Thank you Ed! I have never heard of it. It �s so interesting! I recommend to read it...
The Children of Lir
Once upon a time there was a king called Lir who had four children. He
had a daughter called Fionnuala and three sons called Aodh, Fiachra and
Con. Their mother had died and they were sad because they missed her
terribly. They missed the stories she used to tell them, the games she
used to play, and the songs she sang at bedtime when she hugged them to
sleep.
King Lir saw that his children needed a new mother, so he decided to
marry again. His new wife was called Aoife. She was beautiful, but jealous
of the four children. So she planned to get rid of them. She asked a druid
to help her and together they made a spell.
In the castle grounds, there was a lake where the children always
played. One day Aoife came with them. Then she suddenly took out a magic
wand and waved it over them. The children vanished. In their place were
four swans. One of the swans opened its beak and spoke with Fionnuala �s
voice. "Oh, what have you done to us?" she asked. "I have
put a spell on you", said Aoife. "For nine hundred years you
will be swans. You will spend three hundred years on this lake, three
hundred years on the Sea of Moyle and three hundred years on the Isle of
Glora. Only the sound of a church bell can break the spell � �.
When the children did not come home that evening, the king went to look
for them by the lake. When he came near, four swans swam up to him. He was
amazed when they began to call out. "Father, Father", they
called, "We are your children. Aoife put a magic spell on us. The
king went back to his castle and begged Aoife to turn the swans back into
children, but she said no. Now King Lir knew how wicked she was and he
banished her from his kingdom. He would reward anyone who could break the
spell, but no one knew how to break it. King Lir spent the rest of his
time talking to his children, until he got old and died.
The swans were very sad. They stopped singing and talking, and nobody
visited them anymore.
Three hundred years went by and they had to move to the Sea of Moyle.
That was a very stormy, wild place and their lives were very hard there.
The years went by very slowly. Then they moved to the Isle of Glora; by
that time they had all become very old.
One day they heard the sound of a church bell. A monk had come to the
island and built a church. They went to the monk. He saw four swans
standing in front of him slowly changing into four very old people. He
blessed them and they died. They were buried beside the little church.
