The Claddagh, Galway is a major attraction in the city of Galway in Ireland. It is from The Claddagh, Galway that the famous ring meant for signifying love and friendship originated.The Claddagh area in local parlance is called “cladach”. It means a stony beach. Since ages, people of this place have been fishing and gathering seafood. Its existence has been recorded since the arrival of Christianity in the 5th century. Over the years the fishing community of Claddagh kept Galway City supplied with fish. They sold fishes on the square in front of the Spanish Arch. The area has been made famous in the song “Galway Bay”. The traditional jewelry, the Claddagh Ring, which is worn by people all over the world, has brought it international fame.
Claddagh lies close to the cobbled streets of Galway City. It lies across the Wolfe Tone Bridge and upon the stretches of Galway Bay. This fisherman’s village reminds one and all of the unique and eccentric people who maintained a sovereign settlement here until the death of their last King, Martin Oliver in the year 1972.
The famous Claddagh ring, as we know it today is a matchless memento for lovers. It stands for love and friendship. The design of the ring is striking and forthright. It is shaped in the form of two hands joined together to support a single heart. And the heart seems to wear a crown.
The motto of the ring is let love and friendship reign. Traditionally, the rings can be worn in three different but significant manners. The manners convey a different status in the search for love. When worn on the right hand with the heart facing outward toward the nail, the ring signifies one whose heart is free. When the heart is facing inward, toward the knuckle of the right hand, it indicates that the heart is no longer available. In other words it means the person is going steady. If the ring is worn on the left hand, it conveys that love has been plighted.
Time will pass away imperceptibly but the story of the Claddagh will live on for ever as it will be carried into posterity by the ring that bears its name.
Detailed online information on The Claddagh, Galway can be obtained in travel.mapsofworld
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