Ideas for Your Irish Wedding RingsThis is the place to get ideas for Irish wedding rings for your special day. Get just the right symbolism with the choice of rings you choose. I'll start you off with three different ideas. You can use your own idea if none of these are to your liking. Like I've said on some of my other pages, just relax and have some fun. Use a lot of your own imagination.
The Classic Gold Band
Traditional Irish wedding rings are gold, just a plain gold band would do. In past centuries it was thought by the Irish not to be a proper legal marriage unless a gold ring was used in the ceremony. If the couple getting married were too poor to buy a ring, there were a few options open to them.
One was in the southeast of Ireland. Where there were people that kept a few gold wedding rings for hire. The couple would rent the rings for the ceremony then return them immediately afterwards. The second option in some places in Ireland was the priests themselves. Some priests kept gold rings on hand to be used on loan at many different weddings. Again, these rings were returned immediately after the ceremony to be used again and again. Another option if you were lucky was if you happened to be the first daughter in your family to marry and your mother gave you her gold ring. Which it was understood was to be handed down to your first married daughter and so on through the generations. Many Irish wedding rings were past down this way, especially the Claddagh (see below). So for starters a plain gold band will do.
The Claddagh for Irish Wedding rings
The most famous Irish wedding rings design, the Claddagh ring originated in the west of Ireland near Galway. The classic Claddagh design is two encircling hands clasping a crowned heart. The hands stand for friendship, the heart stands for love, and the crown stands for loyalty.
Click on the picture at the right to view a selection of Claddagh wedding rings at Celtic by Design.
How the ring is worn is to tell the world your availability for love and romance. If worn on the right hand with the tip of the heart facing out it means you are open and looking for a relationship. If worn on the right hand with the heart face in, it means you are in a relationship. If worn on the left hand with the tip of the heart facing out, it means you are engaged. If worn on the left hand with the heart facing in, it means you are married.
Claddagh was a small fishing village near Galway. From what I've read Irish fisherman were considered poor swimmers. If tragedy struck and the fisherman fell overboard and drowned, the Claddagh ring on their finger identified them as coming from Claddagh village. If they washed up on shore that is.
Richard Joyce is considered to be the originator of the Claddagh ring design. He left Galway and the woman he loved to work in the West Indies. He never made it, pirates captured his ship and he was sold into slavery in Algiers. His Moorish master taught him the craft of goldsmith. He created the Claddagh ring in memory of the woman he left behind in Ireland. He remained in captivity for fourteen years until William III came into power and demanded that the Moors release all British subjects. So it was in the late 1600's Richard returned to Galway. He found that the woman he loved still waited for him. They married with her using the Claddagh ring as a wedding band. Richard Joyce carried on the goldsmith craft in Galway. To this day the oldest examples of the Claddagh Irish wedding rings carry his initials of RI.
The Celtic Knot Design for Irish Wedding Rings
Ireland was the last stronghold of the Celts. Celtic traditions are still strong in Ireland from the Gaelic language, to old Celtic customs, to Celtic art. Using Celtic knot designs on your Irish wedding rings is honoring the oldest of your Irish heritage.
Click on the picture for a look at more Celtic knot rings at Celtic by Design.
I've read that Celtic knots originally had no meaning they were purely ornamental. Now days people like to have meanings in their Celtic Knots. One good one to use for a wedding band is the Celtic Love Knot. The lines of this knot intertwine representing two lives coming together for all eternity in unending love for one another.
Another good design to celebrate both your Celtic and Irish Catholic heritage is the use of the trinity knot.
The Irish wedding rings described above are all yellow gold. I like yellow gold. You may prefer white gold, yellow gold or a combination of the two. You may even like a stone set in your wedding band. The choice is yours. But remember, to be Irish it needs to be Gold. If you want to look at many other styles of Irish wedding rings, including a Celtic Cross design, take a look at the wedding ring section at Celtic by Design. Don't just stop at the ring section. Browse around for a bit at the rest of the site. I'm sure it will give you many more ideas for your wedding.
Good luck and congratulations on your wedding.
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