Proudly display your Irish family heritage with our Irish Claddagh badge! We have assembled 225 Irish surnames with the historically accurate family motto scrolled across the badge. The design itself combines Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, and the famous Royal Irish Claddagh - symbolizing the trinity of Love, Loyalty, and Friendship" ( In Gaelic, "Grá, DĂlseacht agus Cairdeas" (pronounced 'graw, dealshocked ogis cordiss').
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About St. Patrick
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and the Irish. He was born about 385 A.D. in Northern Wales. He studied religion in Europe to become a priest and bishop. He then brought Christianity to the Irish by teaching in Ireland for 29 years. According to early Irish tradition, he died on March 17, 461 AD. The anniversary of his death is celebrated as Saint Patrick's Day.
An Irish tale tells of how Saint Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
Green is associated with Saint Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.
Today St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17 by the Irish as well as many countries and cultures with parades, parties, wearing of green, Irish songs and jigs.
About the Royal Claddagh Ring
The Claddagh symbolizes the trinity of "Love, Loyalty, and Friendship" or, in Gaelic, "Grá, DĂlseacht agus Cairdeas" (pronounced 'graw, dealshocked ogis cordiss').
The traditional wedding ring of the Irish since the 17th Century, the Royal Claddagh ring is today worn by people all over the world as a universal symbol of love, loyalty, friendship and fidelity, and of their Irish heritage.
For love, we wear the heart. In friendship, we wear the hands. And, in loyalty and lasting fidelity: we wear the Royal Claddagh crown.
An original symbol of the "Fisher Kings" of the Galway town of Claddagh, Ireland, was first fashioned into the traditional ring back in the 17th Century during the reign of Mary II. Legend has it that an Irish young man, Richard Joyce, bound for the West Indian slave plantations was kidnapped himself in rough seas by a band of Mediterranean pirates and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who over the many long years of his exile helped him perfect the skills of a master craftsman. When in 1689 King William III negotiated the return of the slaves, Joyce returned to Galway - despite, it said, the Moor's offer of the daughter's hand in marriage and a princely dowry of half of all his wealth.
Back in Ireland a young women had never stopped faithful waiting for her true love to return. Upon which time when he presented her with the now famous Royal Claddagh gold ring - a symbol of their enduring love. Two hands to represent their friendship, the crown to signify their loyalty and lasting fidelity, and the sign of the heart to symbolise their eternal love for each other. They soon married, never to be separated again.
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