The children of Lir
Miguel B
An evil stepmother, swans, magic... Sounds like a Disney film, right?
The Children of Lir is an Irish legend. The original Irish title is Clann Lir or Leanaí Lir. The legend is part of the Irish Mythological Cycle, which consists of numerous prose tales and poems found in medieval manuscripts.
Below you'll read a brief version of the legend:
Lir and Aoibh were married and had four children: one girl, Fionnuala, and three sons, Aodh and twins, Fiachra and Conn.
Aoibh died and her children missed her terribly. Wanting to keep them happy, Lir married another woman, Aoife.
Jealous of the children's love for each other and for their father, Aoife plotted to get rid of the children. On a journey with the children, she tried to kill them but did not have the courage. Instead, she used her magic to turn the children into swans. When their granddad heard of this, he transformed Aoife into an air demon for eternity.
As swans, the children had to spend 900 years in three different regions in Ireland. To end the spell, they would have to be blessed by a monk.
After the children, as swans, spent their long periods in each region, they received sanctuary from MacCaomhog, a monk.
Each child was tied to the other with silver chains to ensure that they would stay together forever. However Deoch, the wife of the King of Leinster and daughter of the King of Munster, wanted the swans for her own, so she ordered her husband Lairgean to attack the monastery and seize the swans. In this attack, the silver chains were broken and the swans transformed into old, withered people.
You will find alternative endings to this legend on other online resources and books.
The Children of Lir at present:
- A statue of the Children of Lir is in the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square in Dublin, Ireland. It symbolises the rebirth of the Irish nation following 900 years of struggle for independence from England and, later, the United Kingdom, much as the swans were "reborn" following 900 years.
- You can read more about this legend on the following link