Claddagh

Perhaps you've heard of the Claddagh ring, the "Irish symbol of love." They have a design like this:

Image from the Internet

The ring's symbols mean, "The Hands are for Friendship, The Heart is for Love, And Loyalty is Shown with the Crown up above":

It turns out that the Claddagh ring originated in Claddagh, an ancient fishing village, which is now part of Galway. According to Wikipedia, "Galway has produced Claddagh rings continuously since at least 1700, but the name ‘Claddagh ring’ was not used before the 1830s. Although there are various myths and legends around the origin of the Claddagh ring, it is almost certain that it originated in or close to the small fishing village of Claddagh in Galway."

Here is our so-so photo of The Claddagh, including a few Claddagh swans and one of the few hooker sail boats (the black boat closest to the wall) still in use:

There are quite a few stores in the Galway City Centre selling Claddah rings and other jewelry. Each one is the "best" for its own reasons 😉. I'm not sure what made this shop the best, but I liked the murals:

Thomas Dillon's (not shown) is one of the best; they claim to be the "Oldest Makers of the Claddagh Ring since 1750." They had a fun little museum in their back room showing "the oldest Claddagh ring," "the smallest Claddagh ring," plus displays of memorabilia from Galway's history.