Atlas / For love / Claddagh ringNo. 07

Plate IBritain & Ireland · Ireland Claddagh ring, drawn by Wishlore

Pl. ICladdagh ring. Two hands, a heart and a crown. Drawing: Wishlore.

No. 07 · For love · Britain & Ireland

The Claddagh ring

Two hands holding a crowned heart: a ring made in Galway from about 1700.

Earliest record: Made in Galway from about 1700
Source: Wikipedia, Claddagh ring
Region: Britain & Ireland · Ireland
Wish: For love
Layers: Record Folk Modern · No early record

Keep this symbol · from £2.99 Read the sources

The story · three layers

The story, in three layers.

Record, Folk and Modern are kept apart, and each one carries its source.

Record

Ireland, from about 1700

Galway, about 1700

Claddagh rings were made in Galway from about 1700, though the name “Claddagh ring” appears only in the 1830s. The hands, heart and crown stand for friendship, love and loyalty.

Folk

Ireland, then worldwide

Given and worn

People give the ring as a token of love and friendship, and many wear it as a wedding ring.

To verify: A second source for wedding-ring use

III

Modern

Shops, today

“Brings love”

Some shops say the ring brings love. We found no early record of that idea; the early record is about friendship, love and loyalty.

Claddagh ring

Made in Galway from about 1700

Story and sources on the reverse

Pl. IIThe story card. Every printed piece carries the story and a code that opens the full source list.

Keep it close

How would you like to keep it?

Download & print

Print-ready card and phone wallpaper

£2.99Sample price

Printed story card, posted

Story and source code on the reverse

£8Sample price

Sterling pendant

925 sterling silver · whole symbol

£28Sample price

Gilded pendant

Gold plated 925 silver (vermeil) · lab-created stones

£85Sample price

Atelier, numbered

Handmade, numbered, made to order · making video later · lab-created stones

£185Sample price

Wish for someone

A private note in your own account. Nothing is sent to them.

Free

Add to bag · £8

Pendants are whole symbols, drawn from this plate. Pictures are design drawings, not photos, until the piece is made and photographed
Printed cards and pendants are made in our partner workshop in China and shipped worldwide
Delivery: [UK/EU/US days TBC]; duties shown at checkout

Watch the story

The story, in a minute.

It opens with the pencil construction, then follows the record, how people used it, and the piece we make today. Every fact in it comes from the sources on this page.

Length: 0:56
Narration: English, with subtitles on screen
Images: Pencil construction and the atlas drawing on this page, animated; no AI images; jewellery shown as a line drawing
Sources: Listed at the end of the film

Story film · 0:56 · Drawn from the atlas plate · no AI images

In one breath

Hands for friendship, a heart for love, a crown for loyalty. Who would you keep it for?

The Claddagh ring

The story, in three layers.

Galway, about 1700

Given and worn

“Brings love”

How would you like to keep it?

The story, in a minute.

Other symbols to keep