{"id":32237,"date":"2017-03-08T16:01:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=32237"},"modified":"2017-03-08T16:01:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:01:06","slug":"the-children-of-lir-irelands-sweethearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2017\/03\/the-children-of-lir-irelands-sweethearts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Children of Lir: Ireland\u2019s Sweethearts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

\"TheIt\u2019s that time of year again. Winter is *hopefully* leaving and making room for spring.\u00a0 March brings a lot to look forward to, especially for the Irish-American community.\u00a0 Every year since 1991, the president has declared March to be National Irish Heritage Month.\u00a0 But what does Irish heritage mean?\u00a0 One University Honors class is on a mission to find the answer to that question.\u00a0 It turns out that \u201cto be Irish\u201d means a lot more than having red hair, drinking beer, and being one with a short temper.\u00a0 Led by professor Kevin Grace, along with Debbie Brawn of University Honors, 20 students will travel to Ireland over spring break to get an in-depth look at the country from where so many Americans emigrated.\u00a0 The weeks leading up to the study tour were filled with readings of Irish-American literature, such as Angela\u2019s Ashes <\/em>and Irish America: Coming Into Clover<\/em>, as well as the viewing of films and many discussions about what Irish heritage means.<\/p>\n

Being a part of the class, I have participated in all these discussions and found a deeper connection to my own Irish heritage.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been very fortunate this semester that I am able to explore the topic in class and at work.\u00a0 At the Archives and Rare Books Library, we have a vast collection of Irish plays, poetry, literature, and folklore.\u00a0 Since I have already been working on highlighting our collections of fairy tales and the like, I decided it would be fun to explore Irish tales this month.<\/p>\n

\"TheThere are many Irish folktales that, like any other nation\u2019s stories, teach lessons or euphemize history.\u00a0 One popular symbol used in Irish mythology is the swan.\u00a0 The swan often symbolizes light and purity.\u00a0 The people of pre-Christian Ireland also saw swans as creatures that could connect to the Otherworld where the gods and goddesses lived (Kneale).\u00a0 Still today, swans are treated with respect in Ireland.\u00a0 Probably the most famous tale about swans is that of \u201cThe Children of Lir\u201d (pronounced LEER<\/em>).\u00a0 There are many different versions of the tale.\u00a0 The version I\u2019m referencing is from ARB\u2019s collection.\u00a0 The book is Celtic Wonder Tales,<\/em> retold by Ella Young and illustrated by Maud Gonne.\u00a0 In Young\u2019s retelling of the story, a king named Lir lived in Ireland in a time before the land knew trouble.\u00a0 There, he lived with his four children\u2014Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiacra, and Conn\u2014and their step-mother, Aoifa.\u00a0 Though beloved by their father, Aoifa resented the four children.\u00a0 One day, she took them to the Lake of Darvra in Westmeath.\u00a0 To ensure they would never live under her roof again, she cast a spell on them, causing all four to turn into swans.\u00a0 They were cursed to stay in that lake for three hundred years.\u00a0 At the end of that time, they would migrate to the sea of Moyle for the next three hundred.\u00a0 Afterward, the children-turned-swans were to spend three hundred additional years on the Western Sea.\u00a0 The curse would end only when a king from the North wed a queen from the South, when a druid with a shaven crown came over the seas, and when they heard a prayer bell ringing.<\/p>\n

Distraught, the children called for wickedness to be thrust onto Aoifa.\u00a0 When Lir found out what happened to his children, wickedness is exactly what Aoifa received\u2014her beauty was driven from her and she was forced to wander desolate forever.\u00a0 When Lir came to see his children, he pleaded with them to return home with him but they could not because of Aoifa\u2019s curse.\u00a0 Still, friends and family came to visit them and they would sing together.\u00a0 When three hundred years passed, they flew to the sea of Moyle where it was cold and stormy.\u00a0 Their years were spent in misery, and Conn almost didn\u2019t survive.\u00a0 After all nine hundred years had passed, they returned to their homeland.\u00a0 However, it was different than when they left.\u00a0 It was no longer the lively place they had known.\u00a0 It was desolate and dreary.\u00a0 Their father\u2019s house was empty, and the swans were filled with sorrow.<\/p>\n

\"The They wanted to be far from the sadness so they flew away.\u00a0 When the swans landed, they met a stranger who asked if they knew how to get to Tir-nan-Oge, which happened to be their homeland.\u00a0 They said there was no use going there, as it was devoid of life.\u00a0 The man, named Aibric, would have none of it.\u00a0 It was his life\u2019s purpose to make it to Tir-nan-Oge and he was determined to get there.\u00a0 Convinced by the man that there was hope in returning home, the swans showed him the way.\u00a0 Once there, Aibric called to the mountain to take pity on them, and the world transformed in response.\u00a0 Everything returned to its former beauty, and a prayer bell was heard in the distance.\u00a0 Aibric took the swans to the church where the bells rang.\u00a0 A queen (from the South) heard about the swans and demanded her husband capture them for her.\u00a0 When the king (from the North) tried to forcibly take the swans, their feathers turned to dust.\u00a0 The children\u2019s souls were released from their swan bodies and joined their parents in the afterlife.\u00a0 Aibric, who had become fond of the swans, lived the rest of his life telling their story to anyone who would listen.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Irish still pay homage to this myth.\u00a0 There is a statue of the Children of Lir in Dublin\u2019s Garden of Remembrance and a monument in Ballycastle, County Antrim.\u00a0 Swans that are native to the land are treated with respect because of their ties to mythology and because of their natural grace and beauty.<\/p>\n

\"TheTomorrow, I will be in Ireland and on the lookout for swans. \u00a0I\u2019ll make sure to take pictures to add to ARB\u2019s Irish Literature site. \u00a0And when I get back, I\u2019ll post more about Irish folklore. \u00a0In the meantime, please visit our website at http:\/\/libraries.uc.edu\/arb.html<\/a>, follow us on Facebook at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArchivesRareBooksLibraryUniversityOfCincinnati<\/a>, and come see us in person. \u00a0The Archives and Rare Books Library is located on the 8th<\/sup> floor of Blegen Library. \u00a0Our hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. \u00a0To schedule an appointment, please call us at 513.556.1959 or email us at archives@ucmail.uc.edu<\/a>. \u00a0Whether you go far or stay near, have a great spring break!<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/irelandofthewelcomes.com\/the-children-of-lir\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.celtic-weddingrings.com\/celtic-mythology\/children-of-lir.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/aliisaacstoryteller.com\/2015\/06\/15\/irish-mythology-the-swan\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.transceltic.com\/pan-celtic\/swan-celtic-mythology<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Sydney Vollmer, ARB Intern It\u2019s that time of year again. Winter is *hopefully* leaving and making room for spring.\u00a0 March brings a lot to look forward to, especially for the Irish-American community.\u00a0 Every year since 1991, the president has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,83],"tags":[22,11,67],"class_list":["post-32237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-langsam-library","tag-didyaknow","tag-interesting","tag-rare-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}