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Children of Lir

Long ago in ancient Ireland, Lir married Aobh (Eve),
foster daughter of Bodb Dearg, King of the Tuathe de Danaan.

Together they had four children; Fionnuala, Aodh, and twins Conn and Fiachra.

Sadly, Aobh died as the twins were born, and Lir was heart broken. Bodbh Dearg sent Aoife, Aobhs’ sister, to wed Lir and be a mother to his children.

At first, they were all happy and Aoife loved these beautiful children as her own,
but soon, she became jealous of Lir’s love for them.

One day as the children were swimming, she took a druids’ wand out
from under her cloak and cast a spell over them, changing them into swans
and sentencing them to 300 years each on Lough Deravaragh, the Sea of Moyle
and Irrus Domnann, off the coast of Inis Glora.

“Till the Woman from the south and the Man from the North will come together”,
was her cruel sentence on the terrified children.

Aoife left them with one blessing, their human voices and they could sing as sweetly as the Sidhe (fairies).

When Bodb heard of what she had done, he transformed Aoife into an air demon for eternity.

After 900 years of hardship and misery the swans heard the Christian bell of Saint Mochaomhog, and they put their trust in him and came to settle on the land of Inis Glora.

Now at that time, the King of Connacht was Lairgren, and Deoch was his wife,
this was the coming together of the Man from the North and the Woman from the South that Aoife had spoken of.

Deoch desired the swans for her own, but when Lairgren laid his hand on them,
the feathers fell from their bodies and they became withered old people.

Mochaomhog baptised them as death was very close and Fionnuala bid him not to part them in death, but to bury them together ; “with Conn on my right side and Fiachra on my left and Aodh before my face, between my arms.”

For throughout their troubled lives, Fionnuala had held her brothers together and protected them, as she would now do in death.

And so they died, were buried on Inis Glora and a stone was put over them and their names were written in Ogham. They were keened there and heaven was gained for their souls.

This is a shortened version of an ancient Irish Legend. The original translation from old Irish, was done by Lady Augusta Gregory, and she published it in her 1904 book titled; "Of Gods and Fighting Men".

You can read it here. Fate of the Children of Lir