"The Children of Lir (Irish: Oidheadh chloinne Lir) is a story from Irish mythology. It is a tale from the time after Christianity became common in Ireland. The story combines magical elements, such as druidic wands and spells, with a message about the power of faith to bring freedom from suffering."

Naming and manuscripts

The story is known in Irish as Oidheadh Chlainne Lir and is often called The Children of Lir in English. It has also been referred to as The Tragic Story of the Children of Lir, The Fate of the Children of Lir, or The Violent Death of the Children of Lir. The correct English translation of the Irish name should be The Children of Lear, as "Lir" is a form of the name used in Irish grammar. However, the incorrect translation Lear has become widely accepted in cultural contexts.

After the 18th century, scholars often grouped this tale with two other stories: Oidheadh Chloinne Uisnigh (The Fate of the Children of Uisnigh) and Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann (The Fate of the Children of Tuireann). Together, these three stories are called Trí Truagha na Sgéalaigheachta, meaning The Three Sorrowful Tales of Erin. A scholar named Robin Flower suggested that all three stories may have been written by the same author in the 14th century, possibly someone connected to the Mac Fhirbhisighs in north-west Connacht. These tales have been gathered and translated from Irish into English.

Early versions of the stories appear in several manuscripts. These include MS 72.1.38 and MS 72.2.6 at the National Library of Scotland, MS Egerton 164 at the British Library, and MS 24 A 13 and MS E vi 4 at the Royal Irish Academy’s library.

Legend

The story takes place during a time when the Tuatha Dé Danann were losing power in Ireland, and the Milesians were becoming more powerful.

Bodb Derg was chosen as king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, which upset Lir, who believed he should have been the king. Lir refused to obey Bodb, causing conflict. To calm the situation, Bodb gave his daughter, Aoibh, to Lir in marriage. Lir agreed to support Bodb and end the conflict.

Aoibh and Lir had four children: one girl named Fionnghuala and three boys named Aodh, Fiacra, and Conn. After the twins were born, Aoibh died, which made Lir very sad. Bodb then sent another daughter, Aoife, to marry Lir, who accepted her happily. The children brought joy to both Lir and Bodb.

Later, Aoife became jealous of the attention the children received and pretended to be sick for about a year. She then took the children to a lake and cast a spell to change them into swans. Fionnghuala warned Aoife that the spell would last for 300 years at each of three locations: Loch Dairbhreach, Sruth na Maoilé, and Iorrus Domnann and Inis Gluairé. She also predicted that after the spell ended, Lairgenn (a descendant of the King of Connacht) and Deoch (a descendant of the King of Munster) would marry. Aoife allowed the children to keep their ability to speak and sing, but they would remain swans. She returned to Bodb’s court, claiming Lir had refused to let her take the children.

When messengers told Lir about the children’s disappearance, he learned that Aoife had cursed them. He confronted Bodb, who cursed Aoife in return, transforming her into a demon of the air.

Bodb and the Tuatha Dé Danann listened to the swans’ songs at Loch Dairbhreach, and even the Milesians were moved by their music. After 300 years, the swans moved to Sruth na Maoilé, where they endured harsh weather. Later, they traveled to Iorrus Domnann, where they faced extreme cold. Eventually, they reached Sioth Fionnachaidh, where Lir lived, but found it abandoned.

At Inis Gluairé, the swans heard a bell ringing during a religious service. Fionnghuala believed the sound would free them from the curse. When the bell finished, the swans sang, and a holy man named Mochaomhóg recognized their song and realized they were the children of Lir.

Mochaomhóg helped the swans by binding them with silver chains. When the swans’ time ended, Fionnghuala asked Mochaomhóg to baptize them. They were baptized, then died, and were buried. Mochaomhóg was deeply saddened by their fate. This was the end of the children of Lir’s story.

Analysis

Folklorists have believed there is a connection between the Irish story The Children of Lir and tale type ATU 451, "The Maiden who Seeks her Brothers," from the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index. Joseph Jacobs thought the story of "The Swan Children" was a separate folktale that was later added to the Tuatha de Dannan cycle. Similarly, Dáithí Ó hÓgáin proposed that the tale may have reached Ireland from a story about "swan-children" that originated in Continental Europe, specifically the Netherlands.

Adaptations in other media

• The song "Silent O Moyle, Be the Roar of Thy Water" (also called "The Song of Fionnuala") from Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies tells the story of the children of Lir.
• Irish composer Geoffrey Molyneux Palmer (1882–1957) created an opera called Srúth na Maoile (1923) based on the legend of the children of Lir.
• Irish composer Hamilton Harty (1879–1941) wrote an orchestral piece called The Children of Lir (1938).
• Irish composer Redmond Friel (1907–1979) composed the music for Joan Denise Moriarty's ballet The Children of Lír, which was performed by the Cork Ballet Company. The performance included the Cork Symphony Orchestra, led by Aloys Fleischmann, during Ballet Week in May 1950 at the Cork Opera House.
• Irish composer Robert Lamb (born 1931) wrote an orchestral suite called The Children of Lir (1970), which includes a narrator.
• Irish composer Patrick Cassidy (born 1956) created an oratorio called The Children of Lir (1991), with a libretto written in the Irish language.

• The folk-rock group Loudest Whisper made an album called The Children of Lir based on a stage version of the legend from 1973–74.
• The folk metal band Cruachan included a song called "Children of Lir" on their album Folk-Lore (2002).
• The pagan metal band Primordial wrote a song called "Children of the Harvest" inspired by the legend.
• "Children of Lir" is a song about the legend performed by Sora on her album Heartwood.
• Mary McLaughlin has an album called Daughter of Lír, which includes two songs about the legend: "Fionnuala's Song" and "The Children of Lir."
• Sinéad O'Connor's song "A Perfect Indian" from her album Universal Mother mentions "Lir's children."

• A statue of the Children of Lir, made by sculptor Oisin Kelly and cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry in Florence, Italy, is located in the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin, Ireland. It represents the rebirth of the Irish nation after 900 years of struggle for independence, just as the swans were "reborn" after 900 years.
• Another statue showing the legend is in the central green of Castlepollard village, County Westmeath, near Lough Derravaragh. A plaque explains the story in several languages.
• A sculpture of the Children of Lir is in Ballycastle, County Antrim, near the beach on the Sea of Moyle, where the children were cursed to live for 300 years.

• Wilhelmina Geddes (1887–1955), an Irish artist, created a stained glass window with eight panels. It was commissioned by Belfast City Council in 1929 and completed in 1930. It is now in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, but not currently on display.

• Patrick Kennedy (folklorist) adapted the tale as The Four Swans in The Bardic Stories of Ireland (1871).
• P.W. Joyce (1827–1914) published the story in Old Celtic Romances (London: David Nutt, 1879).
• Douglas Hyde (1860–1949) translated the tale in Three Sorrows of Storytelling (London: Unwin Fisher, 1895).
• Thomas Wentworth Higginson adapted the legend as The Swan-Children of Lir in Tales of the Enchanted Islands of the Atlantic (1898).
• The legend was published as The Doom of the Children of Lir in The True Annals of Fairy-Land: The Reign of King Herla (1900).
• Katharine Tynan (1859–1931) wrote a poem called The Children of Lir in 1907 as part of a collection edited by W.B. Yeats.
• T.W. Rolleston (1857–1920) included the tale in Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race (London: Harrap, 1911).
• The story was retold as The Four White Swans in a 1916 publication.
• Walter Hackett wrote a modern version of the tale called The Swans of Ballycastle, illustrated by Bettina, published by Ariel Books, Farrar, Straus & Young Inc., New York, 1954.
• Deirdre Sullivan wrote Savage Her Reply, a version of the story told from the stepmother’s perspective, illustrated by Karen Vaughan, published by Little Island, Poland, 2020.