Shopping · Feature

Who makes the Claddagh ring now

Three workshops within 200 metres of each other still make the ring by hand in the town it comes from. How to tell a Galway one, and the pirate story behind it.

Gaillimh3 November 2026 · 5 min read

Quay Street. Dillon's has traded under the ring sign at No. 1 since 1850.

Two hands, a heart, a crown. You can buy one in any airport, but the ring is from here, from the fishing village across the Wolfe Tone Bridge, and the oldest one known is in the City Museum at the Spanish Arch.

The story, and what is known

The version everyone tells: Richard Joyce, a Galwayman sailing for the West Indies, is captured by Algerian corsairs and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who teaches him the trade. Released in 1689 when William III demands the freedom of English subjects, he turns down an offer to stay, comes home, and makes the ring for the woman who waited. The Galway City Museum is careful here. Joyce was real, a working goldsmith whose mark, an anchor and the initials R.I., survives on silver. The earliest surviving Claddagh ring, dated about 1700, is attributed to him. Whether he invented the design or adapted a fede ring he had seen on a trader’s hand is open. The museum’s own blog calls his role “somewhat debatable”. That ring came home to Galway in 2020.

The three makers

Made in Galway

Thomas Dillon’s Claddagh Gold: 1 Quay Street. Licence to the ring dates to 1750. The family moved from Waterford to Galway in 1850 and traded first at 1 William Street. The only maker entitled to stamp ORIGINAL inside the band. Supplied Queen Victoria’s ring. The museum at the back is free and takes ten minutes.
Claddagh Jewellers: 25 Mainguard Street, at the Shop Street junction under the beanstalk mural. Four floors, family run, with Claddagh and Celtic pieces made on site.
Claddagh and Celtic Jewellery: 1 Quay Lane, by the Spanish Arch, looking across to the Claddagh itself. A craftsperson works in the shop. Open to 20:00 most nights.

How to tell a Galway one

Look for an Irish hallmark from the Assay Office at Dublin Castle: a Hibernia, a crowned harp, and a fineness mark.
A maker’s mark. Dillon’s ORIGINAL stamp is theirs alone. The other two sign their work.
Ask where it was made. All three will show you the bench.

How to wear it

Right hand, heart pointing out: single. Right hand, heart in: taken. Left hand, heart out: engaged. Left hand, heart in: married. The shops will tell you nobody checks.

All three are in Shopping with hours and directions.

Sources