My great grandfather is from Galway, or somewhere small and close to it (his papers, when he came to AMerican, say Galway at least). Anyway I have had 3 claddaghs growing up, I lost the first two, all from my mother, because I thought it was important to have a culture, like all the other kids (Armenian, Iranian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.). Anyway they were all silver, only because that's what I preferred. My newest one has an emerald heart, because it's my favorite color.

INFORMATION ACTUALLY INTERESTING TO OTHERS:
In America, just about anyone will buy a claddagh, usually goths, wiccans, or people interested in fantasy, folklore, or Ireland. Some just buy them because they are pretty,or everyone else has them, in other words, they have no idea what a claddagh is, and think the ring is just a fashion statement <-(this makes me sad). I once tried to convince a very insistent girl that it was not pronounced "Cladace"

as for the penis piercing dude, I'm not sure a claddagh ring would be appropriate (maybe it's just my bias against genital piercings, though)