Lyrics The Children Of Lir - Cruachan

The Children Of Lir

In a time of myth and magic
Lived a man of timeless power
Lir was his name
But his temper had turned sour
He would not be king of the land
Bov Dearg was chosen instead
Lir would pay no tribute to him
And secretly wished he was dead
Alas with time Lir’s wife did lie
And he was full of great sadness
Dearg heard this and sent word to Lir
To meet with him in his palace
When they met they both embraced
Their friendship was made then
Dearg summoned his daughter eve
And told Lir he must marry again
Lir’s love for Eve was as strong as with his first wife
A seed was planted, Fionnula and Aedh were born
But her next child birth would take away her life
Fiachra and Conn, from their mothers stomach were torn
Lir’s sadness knew no bounds —
He cried out to the night
Dearg was there to comfort him
And help him see the light
He had 4 beautiful children
And with time another bride
Eve’s sister Aoife would stay loyal to his side
But Aiofe had a jealous side — a canker in her mind
She moved against the children, love for them she could not find
She took them in her chariot to a lake not far away
And changed them into swans like night time into day
300 years on Derravaragh, so commenced the spell
The children would swim to the shore, their story to tell
300 years on the sea of Moyle, a cruel and bitter place
The children missed their father here, the smile upon his face
In the sea of Moyle the waves did crash
And beat the land with might
The rain fell fierce and the wind blew hard
The swans all feared for their lives
Fionnula was strong and wisest of all
And guarded her brothers from strife
Under her wings they hid from night
And waited for the morning light
Finally the day did come
To leave this terrible sea
300 more years to live as swans
Then they at last would be free
To Inish Gluaire the swans did fly
As fast as they could go
New lands and kingdoms everywhere —
Fionnula did see down below
There they waited, till at last the day did dawn
The spell was ending
They felt themselves transform
They were now ancient
Their youth was gone forever
And as they died
They held hands and went together