Hello, my name is Oisín Ó Dubhshláine and welcome to the second part of our six-part series on Life and Death. Last week we spoke about the Death of Oisín of the Strong Hands. This week, we’ll turn to the Death of the Children of Lir. This is one of the three tragedies in Irish Legend.
Long ago, in the time of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the People of Light fought against the Fomorians. They won the second Battle of Maigh Tuireadh. The three Gods of Skill fought in this battle. Unfortunately, the Dagda was badly hurt. It’s said that he stood as the High King for forty years after this fatal injury but others say that he died right there in the battle.
In any case, the Dagda died and the Tuatha Dé Danann needed a new High King. The choice fell between Lir and Bodh Dearg, son of the Dagda. Bodh Dearg stood out and won the confidence of the other provincial kings. Lir did not support this decision and returned home to Sídhe Fionnachaidh.
When sickness befell Lir’s wife, she died and Lir’s heart was broken. He grew isolated and bitter. Now, Bodh Dearg had three daughters. Aobh, Aoife, and Ailbhe. As compensation for his failure to secure the High Kingship, Bodh Dearg offered one of his daughters to Lir as a wife. Lir realised that this was a step towards ensuring peace between them and he agreed with Bodh Dearg. They met together in the Fort of the High King.
“Who would you like as your wife?” Bodh Dearg said.
“I couldn’t begin to choose,” Lir answered. “But I promise to be with your eldest daughter.”
Aobh stood and the two were married. When Lir and Aobh returned to Sídhe Fionnachaidh, something happened that Lir never expected. They fell in love. Aobh carried two children for them and Fionnuala and Aodh were born. After a few years, Aobh fell pregnant again and Fiachra and Conn were born. The six of them lived in happiness in Sídhe Fionnachaidh and the children of Lir grew into strong and beautiful children.
Unfortunately, Aobh fell sick and she died. Lir’s heart was broken again but at least he had his children to love him. And yet, Bodh Dearg realised that the children needed a mother and he proposed that Lir marry Aoife. Aoife had fallen in love with Lir the first time she saw him and she was still very taken with him. Lir agreed that the children needed a mother and he married Aoife. Aoife was disappointed when she realised that Lir would never have the same love for her that he’d had for Aobh. Even at that, Lir directed all of his love on his children. Aoife grew jealous. She wanted Lir all to herself.
One day, she invited the children to come with her to Lough Derravaragh. Fionnuala had learned some magic and envisioned that something evil would happen on that lake, but she went with her brothers anyway. Aoife encouraged them to swim in the lake and when she saw the four of them in there, she put her magic wand to them. The children transformed into lovely swans swimming on the water. Because of the magical blood flowing through their veins, the children of Lir retained their voices, their tongues, and their language. They could still control their minds and use their words.
“What have you done to us?” Fionnuala said.
“Children. I curse you that you will stay in this form. Your magic, nor my magic, nor the magic of anyone else for that matter can change that. Until you spend three times one hundred years here on Lough Derraveragh, then three times one hundred years in the Straits of Moyle, between Ireland and Scotland, and three times one hundred years on Irrus Domnan and Inishglora on the West of Ireland, you won’t have any chance to change back into your own bodies. Until the Man of the North marries the Woman of the South this curse won’t end.”
With that, Aoife left. Fionnuala swore that Aoife would not get away with this scheme and the children got to grips with the fate before them.
Aoife reached the fort of the High King and met Bodh Dearg. After Aobh’s marriage with Lir, Bodh Dearg cultivated a great relationship with his grandchildren.
“And where are the children?” Bodh Dearg said.
“They are not with me,” Aoife said.
“Well, what is the reason for that?”
“Lir has no confidence in you. He would not like for you to spend any time with the children.”
This statement enraged Bodh Dearg. He didn’t send any messages to Lir. Instead of that, he waited.
Soon, Lir went searching for his children and for hsi wife. He reached the House of Bodh Dearg and the High King nearly took his head from him.
“Where are the children?” Bodh Dearg said. “Don’t say you left them at home on their own.”
“What are you saying? The children aren’t with me at all. They’re with Aoife. Aren’t they here?” Lir said.
“Aoife is here,” Bodh Dearg said.
“And the children?”
Bodh Dearg hung his head, realising what Aoife had done.
That night, Bodh Dearg met his daughter.
“Aoife,” he said.
“What is it, father?”
“Don’t mind the weirdness of this question, but what is the worst fate that someone could suffer? In your opinion.”
“Well, for me, I would never want to be a demon of the air, cursed never to touch the ground.”
“And that is how you will spend the rest of your life,” Bodh Dearg said.
Bodh Dearg put his magic wand to Aoife and she was transformed into a demon of the air. It’s said that she is still trapped in the air to this day and that she will be there for all of eternity.
After a long search, Lir found his children, now in the form of swans. He stayed with them at Lough Derraveragh for three hundred years. Remember, this household were members of the Tuatha Dé Danann. They didn’t age. At the end of the three hundred years, the swans had to move on.
They stayed on the Straits of Moyle. These straits were not a peaceful place in any way. The swans were thrown around often. When the were separated by storms, they decided to regroup on Cloch na Rón. Here, their feet were frozen to the rock as they rested. These three hundred years that the Children of Lir were painful and uneasy.
In the end, they moved to Irrus Domnann and Inishglora, beside County Mayo. When they flew over their old home, Sídhe Fionnachaidh, they saw a ruined, empty fort. The Tuatha Dé Danann had all retreated to the Otherworld. They had no family left in this place. They waited in Inishglora and they sang there, playing the music of the Tuatha Dé Danann with their voices. The people of Ireland heard about these brilliant swans and came from every corner of the country to see them.
And with the nine hundred years coming to an end, Lairgean, son of Colman, the King of Connaught, married Deoch, the daughter of Finghin. The Man of the North married the Woman of the South. Deoch wanted these swans and Lairgean went in search of them. With their sentence about to end, Lairgean found the Children of Lir. He caught the four of them, two in each hand, with a mind to take them back with him. But when he put his hand to them, the old children transformed on the spot. They grew into old people and Lairgean was surprised.
As the Children of Lir were about to die, they decided to sing. They sang in a circle about the Tuatha Dé Danann and their epic stories. In the end, they were placed in one grave, with Conn and fiachra on either side of Fionnuala, and Aodh at her head. It’s said that the people around them saw four swans flying from their bodies in their final seconds, and they disappeared in a flash.
We see, therefore, that the Children of Lir had a cruel and difficult life. But they stayed together. They never separated, even when their family was all gone. And in their final moments, they sang for the people of Ireland, even though they were strangers. They left these new people with one final gift from the Tuatha Dé Danann.
As well as that, that’s not to say that the Children of Years died. As I said before, they were members of the Tuatha Dé Danann, as such, there’s every chance that they left their physical body and their souls returned to the Otherworld, to be with Lir and Aobh once more.
This is our story on the Deaths of the Children of Lir. Join us next week for our next story.
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