The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring given which represents love, loyalty, and friendship (the hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty).
The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old city walls of Galway, now part of Galway City.
While Claddagh rings are sometimes used as friendship rings, they are most commonly used as engagement and wedding rings. Mothers sometimes give these rings to daughters when they come of age. There are several mottos and wishes associated with the ring, such as: "Let love and friendship reign." In Ireland, the United States, Canada, and other parts of the According to Irish author Colin Murphy, a Claddagh ring was worn with the intention of conveying the wearer's relationship status:

• On the right hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips: the wearer is single and may be looking for love.
• On the right hand with the point of the heart toward the wrist: the wearer is in a relationship.
• On the left hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips: the wearer is engaged.
• On the left hand with the point of the heart toward the wrist: the wearer is married.

There are other localised variations and oral traditions, involving the hand and the finger on which the Claddagh is worn. Folklore about the ring is relatively recent, not ancient, with "very little native Irish writing about the ring". Hence, the difficulty today in finding any source that describes or explains the traditional ways of wearing the ring.