THE CHILDREN OF LIR: AN IRISH LEGEND
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There was a time in ancient Ireland when the people believed
in magic and in druids and spells. These were the days of
the Tuatha De Danann tribe, the Goddess Danu and of Lir, the
lord of the sea.
Lir's wife, Eva, had given him four beautiful children. The
two eldest, Fionnuala and Aodh, went swimming in a small
lake. But these were no ordinary swimmers! They possessed
gills for breathing and webbed feet as they were, after all,
the offspring of 'the ruler of the land beneath the waves'.
They met a messenger who told them that they were wanted by
their father. They went home immediately only to find their
father disturbed.
'What is wrong father?' they enquired
'Your mother has given birth to twins....' he replied
'....and has gone off to rest'
'What do you mean father?' they asked
Lir explained that this was what humans called 'death' but
that since they were immortal that their mother had gone
to recover, possibly for a thousand years or more. The
children were to look after the new brothers, Fiachra and
Conn.
The children kissed their mother for the last time and
then left.
As the children grew Lir's spirits declined until one day he
met Aiofe, the sister of his wife. Aoife was possessed of
magical powers and soon enough it was known that she and Lir
would marry. The new family thrived under the influence of
their new mother but not for long as guilt and jealousy
about the childresn real mother took its toll on Aoifes
health. She fell into sickness for a year but recovered only
to start to become old before here time.
Aoife was a changed woman now and one day suggested that she
and the children should visit their grandfather. On the
journey they stopped by a lake and she encouraged the
children to go for a swim. The four children played happily
in the water, not noticing that their stepmother was now
standing at the waters edge wearing her fathers magic cloak.
'For too long you children have stood between your father and
I, but not for much longer!'
she cried
'We cannot be killed by you...' Aodh replied,
'...we are the Children of Lir and if you harm us our ghosts
will haunt you!'
'I not going to kill you.....' she shouted
'......but I am going to change you!'
At this she bowed her head and started an inacntation. The
children looked at each other in fear as they saw a red and
gold circle envelope them on the water. They saw Aoife open
up her cloak from which the great light of a fireball emerged
and hurtled towards them, burning all in its wake.
The fireball hit the water and caused masses of steam to
rise about the children and they soon lost all feeling in
their legs, arms, shoulders and head. They soon regained
their sight only to see Aoife laughing at them. Aodh tried
to attack her and flailed his arms about furiously but
nothing happened except the splashing of water. He turned to
look at his brothers and sister only to see that they had
all been turned intot the most beautiful swans ever seen.
Aoife scowled at them again and told them that they were to
spend nine hundred years as swans, three hundred on Lough
Derravaragh, three hundred on the Straits of Moyle and three
hundred on the Isle of Inish Glora. To end the spell they
would have to hear the bell of the new God.
'I leave you with your voice however, and the most beautiful
singing ever heard' she said.
Lir searched for his children that day, but Aoife told him
that they had been attacked and killed by wild boars.
Fionnuala, now in swan form, approached her father and told
him what Aoife had done. Lir was furious and banished Aoife
into exile as an evil demon of the air.
Lir faithfully visited his children and the power of his
love ensured that their timeon the lake was one fo bliss. He
knew thousgh that the 300 years of the first phase had passed
and that the next phase of the spell was about to begin. The
swans left for the Straits of Moyle, never to see their
father again.
Their time on the Northern Straits of Moyle were not so
joyous, with frequent storms separating them, only for they
to join up again. Another 300 years passed but they had
survived together.
They departed the cold straits and made their way towards
Lough Derravaragh. They flew over th land, hoping to find
their father's fort, but it was now nothing more than ruins.
They wept because they knew the time of the
Tuatha De Danann was gone.
They travelled West to the waters of Inish Glora and found
refuge on a small saltwater lake where time passed solowly.
One day an old man named Mochua visited the lake and the
children enquired of hiim if he was a follower of the new
God. The startled man asked if they were the children of Lir
and they told him that they were.
'Are you a holy man?' asked Fiacra.
'I am...' came the reply '
The children knew that to break the spell that they would
have to hear the bell of a new God toll in their own land.
Mochua told them all about his new God and all about Saint
Patrick who had brought his faith to their country.
The children became excited as they knew that this was the
new god their stepmother had told them of. They stayed with
Mochua for many years who gave them sanctuary in a small
chapel which he had built. He intended to make a bell and
collected old swords, shileds and other metal to make it.
The bell was now completed and was about to be rung when
another disaster occurred.
A Warrior dressed in armour entered the chapel. He had come
for the children who were famed for their wonderful singing.
'I am Liargren, King of Connaught' he shouted,
'My wife desires those swans and I will have them...
...give them here or I wil tear this building down.'
Fionnuala looked at Mochua and then siad that they would
agree to go away with this King. Liargen was amazed to hear
her speak but soon composed himself and ordered his men to
take the children away. They were being loaded onto a carraige
when suddenly, the church bell tolled loudly.
Time seemd to stand still, but in another instant a great
white mist had been blown off the nearby lake and enveloped
the children as it had done 900 years before. The mist
changed into all of the colours of the rainbow before a great
wind gusted it away.
The children had at last been transformed back into human
form.
Liagren fled immediately, never to return. Mochua baptized
the beautiful children who had begun to age rapidly and so
it was that the children of Lir, the last of the
Tuatha De Danann died soon afterwards, their legend to live
on forever.
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