The Irish, down through the centuries, have been acclaimed as story tellers and are well known for their myths and legends, not all of which have a happy ending. Here is one particularly sad story from the island of Ireland.
The Children of Lir
Once upon a time, long ago, there lived an Irish king called Lir, who had four children whose names were Fionnula,Aodh, Fiachra and Con. Their mother, the queen, had died some years before and the children missed her very much. The king saw that his children were sad and needed a mother so he decided to marry again. His new bride ´s name was Aoife. She was very beautiful but was also selfish and cruel and she quickly became jealous of the king´s love for his children. Her jealousy was so great that she decided to get rid of the children for ever. She asked a druid for help and together they thought up a terrible spell.
A few days later, Aoife went out to the lake near the castle where the children were playing. Aoife said some magic words and the children suddenly disappeared and in their place were four beautiful swans.
“ What have you done to us ? ´´, asked one of the swans. Aoife laughed. “ I have put a spell on you.´´ she answered, “You will be swans for 900 years. You will spend 300 years on this lake, 300 on the Sea of Moyle and 300 on the Isle of Glora. Only the sound of a church bell can break the spell.´´
That evening, as the children did not return home at the usual time, the king went looking for them by the lake. He was very surprised when a swan called out, “ Father, father, we are your children. Aoife has placed a terrible spell on us´´. The king was very sad and angry. He returned to the castle and begged Aoife to break the spell but she refused. As a punishment, the king banished her from his kingdom, never to return.
Lir spent the rest of his life beside the lake, talking to his children until he grew old and died.
300 years passed and the swans moved to the cold and stormy Sea of Moyle between Ireland and Scotland. It was a hard life with little food and the years passed slowly.When the time came for them to fly to the Isle of Glora, the swans were old and tired.
One day, as they were resting beside a little village , they suddenly heard the sound they had been waiting for for so long – an old man called Caomhog was ringing the bell in the tower of a little church. At last, the spell was broken but the children of Lir were now old and sick. When they died a short time afterwards, Caomhog buried them next to the little church where they had heard the sound of the bell after waiting for hundreds of years.