Leicester Square

Irish Mythology

The Tuatha de Danaan: The Children of Lir

pre-12th century—present. Old Irish | Modern Irish, folklore.

By the power of her magic, Aoife turned them all into swans.

When Aoife first went to live with Lir, she treated her stepchildren with tenderness and love, for they were, after all, the children of her own sister. But as time wore on, the love she had once felt for them eroded into a jealous dislike and then plunged at last into such a bitter hatred that Aoife conceived a plot to kill the children. She prepared a journey one day to her foster-father Bodb Dearg, and quite naturally, she arranged to take the children with her – although the eldest, the maiden Fionnuala, had misgivings about the trip. As soon as they were on the road, Aoifa urged her servants to murder the children, but they would not do so. So she took up a sword herself and would have killed them with it; but she took them instead to the shores of Loch Dairbhreach, that is, loch Derryvaragh in county Westmeath, and there, by the power of her magic, she turned them all into swans.

Story fragment recounted from: Gregory, Lady A., 1904. Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland, Arranged and put into English by Lady Gregory. John Murray, London. Reprinted, 1998. Irish Myths and Legends. Running Press Book Publishers, Philadelphia, USA. Part One: The Gods. Book V: The Fate of the Children of Lir, pp 145–160.

See for yourself

Tuatha de Danaan - Wikipedia

The Children of Lir – Wikipedia

Gods and Fighting Men – ancient tales of Ireland put into English by Lady Augusta Gregory. 1904. Project Gutenberg.

Birds and animals

Northern Line

pencil drawing, a sleeping cat
flying swan landing on a lake

Navigate the tunnel

Shared motif

Birds and animals: summary

Current location: explore the motifs

hawk in flight
     
     
     
Advanced Tips
Type Example Notes
Fuzzy kettle~ Contain terms that are close to the word kettle, such as cattle
Wild cat* Contain terms that begin with cat, such as category and the extact term cat itself
Exact-Single orange Contain the term orange
Exact-Phrase "dnn is awesome" Contain the exact phase dnn is awesome
OR orange bike Contain the term orange or bike, or both. OR, if used, must be in uppercase
orange OR bike
AND orange AND bike Contain both orange and bike. AND must be in uppercase
Combo (agile OR extreme) AND methodology Contain methodology and must also contain agile and/or extreme
Results per Page:
Limit the search results with the specified tags.
Limit the search results modified within the specified time.
Limit the search results from the specified source.
Search results must be an exact match for the keywords.
small cygnet peering at you from behind the reeds