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Updated: June 26, 2025
Swiftly did he drive and straight, until he came to the palace of Bove Derg, and there by the waters of the Great Lake did Bove Derg meet him. 'Oh, Lir, wherefore have thy children come not hither? And Eva stood by the King. Stern and sad rang the answer of Lir. 'Alas! Eva, your foster-child, hath by her wicked magic changed them into four snow-white swans.
Exceeding dear unto us are the children of Lir, and I, Bove Derg, and Lir, their father, have vowed henceforth to make our home for ever by the lone waters where they dwell.
And they came early on the morrow to speak with their father and with their foster-father, and they bade them farewell, and Fionnuala made this complaint: "Farewell to you, Bodb Dearg, the man with whom all knowledge is in pledge. And farewell to our father along with you, Lir of the Hill of the White Field.
And that came very hard on Lir, and there was heaviness on his mind after her. And there was great talk of the death of that woman in her own time. And the news of it was told all through Ireland, and it came to the house of Bodb, and the best of the Men of Dea were with him at that time.
Then did the good Kemoc baptize the children of Lir, and thereafter the Saint looked up, and lo! he saw a vision of four lovely children with silvery wings, and faces radiant as the sun; and as he gazed they floated ever upward, until they were lost in a mist of blue. Then was the good Kemoc glad, for he knew that they had gone to Heaven.
And a stone was put over them, and their names were written in Ogham, and they were keened there, and heaven was gained for their souls. And that is the fate of the children of Lir. I have read, in some old marvellous tale Some legend strange and vague, That a midnight host of spectres pale Beleaguered the walls of Prague. Beside the Moldau's rushing stream.
On a small lake in the heart of the island they made their home, and, by their enchanting music, they drew to its shores all the birds of the west, until the lake came to be called 'The Lake of the Bird-flocks. Slowly passed the years, but a great longing filled the hearts of the children of Lir. When would the good Saint come to Erin?
One morning the King said, 'Full well thou knowest my three fair foster-daughters, nor have I forgotten my promise that one thou shouldst have to wife. Choose her whom thou wilt. Then Lir answered, 'All are indeed fair, and choice is hard. But give unto me the eldest, if it be that she be willing to wed.
It is little more than veneer, and in the crises of life the Celt turns to the ancient belief of his race. But did Ulick really believe in Angus and Lir and the Great Mother Dana? Perhaps he merely believed that as a man of genius it was his business to enroll himself in the original instincts and traditions of his race.
"My grief, children of Lir," said Fionnuala, "it is bad our state is now, for we cannot bear the salt water to touch us, and there are bonds on us not to leave it; and if the salt water goes into our sores," she said, "we will get our death."
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