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Identity: Claddadh Rings and Irish America
Can a ring symbolise identity? Why not. Identity itself
is just a symbol - an idea of who you are in the world.
Through centuries of emigration from hardship and in the
search for a better life Irish people have set up new
lives around the world and have had a knack for hardwork
and for blending in and becoming essential parts of
their adopted communities - but have always remained in
major part “Irish”. As an everyday, unremarkable,
ordinary thing; the Claddagh ring for the Irish diaspora
has a greater symbolism - it is a simple reminder of
their roots as well as a genuine continuation of an
ordinary Irish tradition.
In a her New York Times article “In Queens, It's the
Glorious 4th, and 6th, and 16th, and 25th...”, July 4th
2006, Michelle O’Donnell portraits Ann Gill amongst the
diverse ethnic groups of today’s Queens:
“Under the elevated train tracks, Ann Gill of Rockaway
Beach waited for a friend after the dentist. Mrs. Gill,
a retired secretary with a gold Celtic Claddagh ring
glinting on her hand, grew up nearby, the daughter of
poor Irish immigrants who embraced American culture
fiercely.
Irishness was not different from Americanness.
"There was nobody more patriotic," Mrs. Gill said,
recalling the red, white and blue dress her mother
donned every July 4.” (1)
The Claddagh ring is worn by Irish people everywhere.
Typical of the Irish diaspora are the Irish of New York
- where they have made a name for themselves, perhaps an
exaggerated stereotype, in uniform; firemen and
policemen working for the city.
Perhaps nothing has been so poignant as stories to emerge from the attack on the World Trade Center, New York, in September 2001. Alongside many other ethnic groups and nationalities, the Irish numbered high amongst the dead. That following month, the Foreign Affairs Minister from Ireland was attending a United Nations meeting in the city. As Governor George Pataki tells the story, the Irish Times reports, Minister Brian Cowen had a message to pass on to the chief of the NYPD from the parents of a missing firefighter - was a Claddagh ring found in the wreckage. The officer accompanying him on the day replied that when relatives were asked to note personal items to help in identification; the Claddagh ring was reported over and over.
"Minister," the chief told Cowen, "we have found 200 Claddagh rings".(2) Of firemen and policemen alone, the officer told him, "15 to 20 of the people we lost were wearing Claddagh rings."(3)
It is difficult to tell how much of the story is
strictly true - but both the importance of the symbol to
the Irish in New York and the number of Irish victims on
that day is undeniable - symbolising, as Pataki says,
"the loss suffered here and in Ireland".
“By an unscientific review of 2,874 names on a
census of the missing”, Jim Dwyer reports, “it appears
that one in five has traces of an Irish background”.
In “Portraits of Grief: The Victims” from the New
York Times is the story of one such victim: Joe Kellett.
“Always Broadway-bound, Mr. Kellett, 37, bought nine
pairs of tickets last summer to see ''The Producers'' in
February, then passed them out to friends at Carr
Futures, where he traded crude oil. All nine men died.
Some widows went to the show. Mrs. Kellett could not. A
few weeks later, she got back his platinum Claddagh
wedding ring -- two hands joined around one heart, an
Irish design rising from the springs of friendship and
abiding love.”(4)
In another touching piece in the Irish Echo, "Farewell to lone Female NYPD victim", a tribute to Moira Smith begins as follows:
"On what would have been her 39th birthday, mourners laid to rest police officer Moira Smith last Thursday, the only female officer of the 23 NYPD members killed by the collapse of the twin towers on Sept. 11. Smith's husband, James, also a police officer, led mourners with the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Patricia. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly attended with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki. Earlier in the day, James and Patricia had christened a NY Waterway ferry after Moira. Alongside the name Moira Smith on the side of the ferry was clearly emblazoned the symbol of the Claddagh, the ancient Irish symbol of love, loyalty and friendship, with its heart surrounded by two hands and topped with a crown. Smith showed those who gathered with him for the launch of the ferry his own Claddagh ring, tearfully recalling that Moira had worn one as well."(5)
References:
-
-
Irish Times; Weekend Sat, 13th Oct 2001; “200
Claddagh rings in Ground Zero”.
-
New York Times, 11th Nov 2001; “Sonuvagun, if It
Isn't Dominion” by Jim Dwyer.
-
New York Times, 1st September 2002; “Portraits of
Grief: The Victims”;
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/newyorkandregion/series/portraits_of_grief/index.html.
-
Irish Echo, 20th Feb 2002; "Farewell to lone Female NYPD victim";
http://www.irishtribute.com/tributes/view.adp@d=236920&t=1648242.html
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