In 1877, the antiquarian William Jones wrote of a curious tradition of wedding rings observed among one small community living on the west coast of Ireland.

The clasped hands, originating from the ancient Romans, are still the fashion and in constant use in that curious local community of fishermen,iting the cladda and Galway on the western coast, Jones wrote.

They number with their families between 5 and 6,000 and are particularly exclusive in their tastes and habits, rarely intermarrying with others than their own people.

The wedding ring is an heirloom in the family. It is regularly transferred from the mother to the daughter who is first married,

and so passes to her descendants. Many of these gemal rings still worn there are very old.

Two hands clasping a heart topped with a crown. This was the famous

cladder ring, which has spread from its Galway origins to become an international symbol of Irish

identity, friendship and romance. One of the most popular designs is sold by Solvar, an Irish family jewellery business, now in its third generation,

which sells designs inspired by Irish heritage in history, from the swirled stone carvings of pre-Christian Ireland to the Celtic knotwork of the Book of Kells.

I spoke to Marcus Obernik, the grandson of the founders of Solvar, to ask him why these ancient designs have such enduring appeal.

I think these are just ancient symbols. I think Ireland is unique in that it has these symbols that mean a lot to the country and to the people of Ireland.

For example, you know, the Celtic cross. Every little

town around Ireland was built around a Celtic cross. That's how the towns, a lot of them started,

and the towns grew and built out from that. And if you go down outside of Dublin to some of these

smaller country towns, you'll still see these ancient Celtic crosses there.

The Trinity knot and Celtic knots are in all the old manuscripts.

They can be seen on churches, they can be seen in books,

they can be seen in windows nowadays.

And then the clad is just one of those ancient beautiful stories

that has been around for years and

it hits everyone.

It hits people who've emigrated,

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