Buckley Tom Dublin Tour Guide Company

18/07/2023

Written by constance Markievicz in the college of surgeon's 1916

17/07/2023

St Annes church in Dawson Street. Open everyday from 10am to 2pm.

21/01/2023

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube Vimeo tumblr
Primary Menu
Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland
Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland
IRISH HISTORY, CULTURE, HERITAGE, LANGUAGE, MYTHOLOGY

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest YouTube Vimeo tumblr

THE TRAVELLING PEOPLE
Stair na hÉireann
History, Ireland, Irish History
Clan Murtagh O'Connors, EyeCandy, Ireland, Irish Gypsies, Knackers, Shelta, The Travelling People, Tinkers, Traveller by Nan Joyce, Travellers
Leave a comment

“When I was a child we were hunted from place to place and we could never have friends to be always going to school with. The little settled children would run past our camps – they were afeard of the travellers. Other people had a sort of romantic idea about us, because of the horses and the colourful wagons. They would ask us did we come from some place special like the gypsies you see on the films. They thought that the travellers had no worries and that we didn’t feel pain or hunger or cold. The truth is that we’re people like everybody else but we’re a different speaking people with our own traditions and our own way of life and this is the way we should be treated, not like dirt…” ––from ‘Traveller’, an autobiography by Nan Joyce.

Travellers are often referred to by the terms tinkers, gipsies/gypsies, itinerants, or, pejoratively, knackers in Ireland. Some of these terms refer to services that were traditionally provided by the group — tinkering or tinsmithing, for example, being the mending of tinware such as pots and pans, and knackering being the acquisition of dead or old horses for slaughter. The term gypsy first appeared in record in the 16th Century referring to the continental Romani people in England and Scotland who were mistakenly thought to be Egyptian. Other derogatory names for itinerant groups have been used to refer to Travellers including the word pikey.

The historical origins of Irish Travellers as a group has been a subject of academic and popular debate. Research is complicated by the fact that the group has no written records of their own. They may be of Romani extraction, although this theory is disputed and theories of pre-Celt origin also exist. Jean-Pierre Liégeois wrote that the Irish Traveller Gammon vocabulary is derived from pre-13th-century Celtic idioms with ten percent Indian origin Romani language vocabulary. Celtic language expert Kuno Meyer and Romani language linguist John Sampson both asserted that Shelta existed as far back as the 13th century, 300 years before the first Romani populations arrived on the island of Britain.

Their origin is genetically Irish, with around 10,000 people in the United States being descendants of Travellers who left Ireland, mostly during the period between 1845 and 1860 during the Great Hunger. About 2,500 of them live in Murphy Village, a community outside North Augusta, South Carolina.

In 2011 an analysis of DNA from 40 Travellers was undertaken at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin and the University of Edinburgh. The study provided evidence that Irish Travellers are a distinct Irish ethnic minority, who separated from the settled Irish community at least 1000 years ago; the claim was made that they are as distinct from the settled community as Icelanders are from Norwegians. Irish Travellers “left no written record of their own” and their families do not date back to the same point in time; some families adopted Traveller customs centuries ago, while others did so more recently. It is unclear how many Irish Travellers would be included in this distinct ethnic group at least from a genetic perspective.

Among other speculation on their origins, “two theories are rejected outright”: that they were descended from those Irish who were made homeless by Oliver Cromwell’s military campaign in Ireland in the 1650s, or made homeless in the 1840s “Great Hunger”, due to eviction. Other speculation includes that they are the descendants of the aristocratic nomads of the Clan Murtagh O’Connors in the Late Middle Ages. Their nomadism was based on cattle-herds or creaghts.

Romany Gypsies were recognised as a distinct ethnic group under the 1976 Race Relations Act. Irish Travellers were accorded this status in 2000.

Live Adopted
Receives Royal

SHARE THIS:
TwitterFacebookPinterestEmailPrintLinkedInTumblrWhatsAppSkypeReddit
LIKE THIS:
Loading...
RELATED

THE TRAVELLING PEOPLE
20/01/2019
In "History"

THE TRAVELLING PEOPLE
20/01/2021
In "History"

THE TRAVELLING PEOPLE
20/01/2022
In "History"

POSTED BY STAIR NA HÉIREANN
Stair na hÉireann is steeped in Ireland's turbulent history, culture, ancient secrets and thousands of places that link us to our past and the present. With insight to folklore, literature, art, and music, you’ll experience an irresistible tour through the remarkable Emerald Isle.

Post navigation
IN 1902 – BIRTH OF MEDICAL STUDENT AND NATIONALIST REVOLUTIONARY, KEVIN BARRY, IN DUBLIN.
IN 1973 – A CAR BOMB EXPLODED IN SACKVILLE PLACE, DUBLIN, AND KILLED ONE PERSON AND INJURED 17 OTHERS.
You must log in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

GOLD WINNER – ARTS & CULTURE AND EDUCATION & SCIENCE BLOGS 2018

SILVER WINNER – EDUCATION & SCIENCE BLOG 2017

BRONZE WINNER – ARTS & CULTURE BLOG 2016

STAIR NA HÉIREANN/HISTORY OF IRELAND

RECENT TWEETS

FOLLOW BLOG VIA EMAIL
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address
Email Address

FOLLOW

Search
SEARCH
INSTAGRAM
in 2018 – Death of Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries.
January God
Ireland 1849 | Sidney Osborne, English travel writer. “Seventy houses were pulled down, under the orders of the agent of the property. The people had for some days to crowd on the neighbouring chapel floor, and by the sides of the ditches, for the neighbours had orders not to take them in: it is fair to state the whole of this mass of tenantry had been created by a middleman, whose lease was now out. Taken from The Truth Behind The Irish Famine, signed copies only at www.jerrymulvihill.com
in 1941 – Death of painter, Sir John Lavery, in Kilkenny. Best known for his portraits, Belfast-born Lavery attended the Haldane Academy in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1870s and the Académie Julian in Paris in the early 1880s.
Fáilas
Ireland 1845-52 | The Mersey Ship - “We could be buried along with our people, in the old churchyard, with the green sod over us, instead of lying like rotten sheep thrown in a pit, and the minute the breath is out of our bodies, thrown into the sea to be eaten up by them horrid sharks.” Robert Whyte "I spent a considerable part of the day watching a shark that followed in our wake with great constancy... the mate said it was a certain forerunner of death." From The Truth Behind The Irish Famine, 100 images, 472 eye witness quotes: www.jerrymulvihill.com
CATEGORY SEARCH
Category Search
Select Category
PAGES
About
Blog
Contact
Home
Stair na hÉireann Photography
Suggested Reading
BLOGROLL
Discuss
Get Inspired
Get Polling
Get Support
Learn WordPress.com
Theme Showcase
WordPress Planet
WordPress.com News
FEATURES
About
Blog
Contact
Home
Stair na hÉireann Photography
Suggested Reading

STAIR NA HÉIREANN – HISTORY OF IRELAND

FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM PINTEREST YOUTUBE VIMEO TUMBLR

The largest collection of Visualisations and Eye Witness reports on The Irish Famine. All Copies Autographed. Purchase All Books "The country owes him a great deal for publishing this... A stunning and incredibly important piece of work"Brendan Griffin Minister of State for Tourism   "A widely rese...

14/01/2023

Originally the green post box was red, built and installed before The creation of the Irish Free State. If you look closely will will see the old signage that represents a time long gone, a time when Britain ruled over all of Ireland.

ER (Edward Rex), GR (George Rex) or more commonly VR (Victoria Regina), complete with a large crown – still clearly visible through the coat of green paint.

Why not remove them and create our own design? No, just paint them green, now they are Irish post boxes.

18/12/2022

No Apologies This is the light of my life. Jack Born 3rd September. Well done Emma and Carl. You have created one Beautiful, happy, healthy little man. Xx Grandad Tom

17/12/2022

Corporation Building's in the heart of 'The Monto'
The area was famous in the late 19th early 20th century for its Kip house's, Brothels and Sheebeens, life was hard and living conditions harsh, in saying that the Girls of what James Joyce described as ' Nightown' were often kind to those neighbours who had virtually nothing, it wasnt unusual for an 'Unfortunate' as they were known to treat a young child in need to a pair of shoes or maybe a coat.

One incident which took place in Corporation buildings in November 1914 shocked the whole community, surprisingly it didnt involve any of the Unfortunate's or their customers.
A family called Clarke had moved into the area from across the river on Lime St, the father was a dock labourer, the couple hailed from Co Meath and had been married apprx 17 year's and they had several children.
Andrew Clarke it seems was a very jealous violent man who often abused his wife in front of his children.
The abuse eventually turned to murder when one Sunday night in the middle of November after Andrew returned home he ordered his wife to bed and when she refused he picked up a spade and smashed her skull in, he then walked from 89b Corporation Bldgs and handed himself into the local Police Station.
At his trial his children would give evidence of what seems was a life of violence for the long suffering wife, Clarke was found guilty but insane and ordered to be detained in custody of the Mental Hospital.
What became of his Children I dont know, but im sure the community of the Monto would have made every effort to help them in their time of need because that's the type of people they are, even to this day.

02/12/2022

35 Things You Probably Never Knew About Dublin

1. Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made
of rope and could only carry one man and a donkey
at a time. It was replaced with a wooden
structure in 1801. The current concrete bridge was
built in 1863 and was first called 'Carlisle
Bridge'.

2. O'Connell Bridge is the only traffic bridge in
Europe which is wider than it is long and Dublin's
second O'Connell Bridge is across the pond in
St. Stephen's Green.

3. Dublin Corporation planted 43,765 deciduous
trees in the Greater Dublin area in 1998.

4. Dublin's oldest workhouse closed its doors for
the last time in July 1969. Based in Smithfield,
the premises housed 10,037 orphan children during
the one hundred and seventy years it operated.

5. Dublin was originally called 'Dubh Linn'
meaning 'Black Pool'.

6. None of the so-called Dublin Mountains are high
enough to meet the criteria required to claim
mountain status. The Sugarloaf is the tallest
'Dublin Mountain' yet measures a mere 1389 feet
above sea level.

7. The headquarters of the national television
broadcaster, RTE, in Montrose, was originally built
for use as an abattoir.

8. Dublin's oldest traffic lights are situated
beside the Renault garage in Clontarf. The lights,
which are still in full working order, were
installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus
Mitchell who was the owner of the first car in
Ireland.

9. The Temple Bar area is so called because it
housed the “Temple” Family-who were a wealthy merchant family

10. Tiny Coliemore Harbour beside the Dalkey
Island Hotel was the main harbour for Dublin from
the fifteenth to the seventeenth century.

11. Dublin is the IT Call Centre capital of Europe
with over 100,000 people employed in the industry.

12. In 1761 a family of itinerants from Navan
were refused entry to Dublin. The family settled
on the outskirts of the city and created the town
of Rush. Two hundred and fifty years later, a
large percentage of the population of Rush can
still trace their roots back to this one family.

13. Dubliners drink a total of 9800 pints an hour
between the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3.00am
the following Monday.

14. Dublin is Europe's most popular destination
with traveling stag and hen parties.

15. Harold's Cross got it's name because a tribe
called the 'Harolds' lived in the Wicklow
Mountains and the Archbishop of Dublin would
not let them come any nearer to the city than
that point.

16. Leopardstown was once known as Leperstown.

17. The average 25-year-old Dubliner still lives
with his/her parents.

18. Three radio stations attract over 90% of all
listeners in the Dublin area.

19. There are twelve places called Dublin in the
United States and six in Australia.

20. Buck Whaley was an extremely wealthy gambler
who lived in Dublin in the seventeen hundreds.
Due to inheritances, he had an income of seven
thousand pounds per year (not far off seven
million a year at today's prices). He lived in a
huge house near Stephen's Green which is now the
Catholic University of Ireland. He went broke and
he had to leave Ireland due to gambling debts.
He swore he'd be buried in Irish soil but is in
fact buried in the Isle of Man in a shipload of
Irish soil which he imported for the purpose.

21. The converted Ford Transit used for the Pope's
visit in 1979 was upholstered using the most
expensive carpet ever made in Dublin. The carpet
was a silk and Teflon weave and rumoured to have
cost over IR£950.00 per square meter.

22. There was once a large statue of Queen
Victoria in the Garden outside Leinster House. It
was taken away when the Republic of Ireland
became independent and in 1988 was given
as a present to the city of Sydney, Australia to
mark that city's 200th anniversary.

23. The largest cake ever baked in Dublin weighed
a whopping 190 lb's and was made to celebrate the
1988 city millennium. The cake stood untouched in
the Mansion House until 1991 when it was thrown
out.

24. Strangers are more likely to receive a drink
from Dubliners than from a native of any other
County.

25. There are forty six rivers in Dublin city. The
river flowing through Rathmines is called the River
Swan (beside the Swan Centre). The Poddle was once
known as the 'Tiber' and was also known as the
River Salach (dirty river), which is the origin of
the children's song 'Down by the river Saile'. It
is also the river whose peaty, mountain water
causes the Black Pool mentioned above.

26. Saint Valentine was martyred in Rome on
February 28th eighteen centuries ago. He was the
Bishop of Terni. His remains are in a Cask in White
Friar Street Church, Dublin. He is no longer
recognised as a Saint By the Vatican.

27. The statue originally in Dublin's O'Connell
Street (but now moved to the Phoenix Park) is
commonly known as the 'Fl**zy in the whirlpool bath'
while the one at the bottom of Grafton Street is
best known as the 'Tart with the Cart'. The women
at the Ha'Penny bridge are the 'Hags
with the bags' and the Chimney Stack with the new
lift in Smithfield Village's now called the 'Flue
with the View'. The short lived millennium clock
that was placed in the River Liffey in 1999 was
known as 'the chime in the slime'.

28. Montgomery Street was once the biggest
red-light district in Europe with an estimated
1600 prostitutes. It was known locally as the
'Monto' and this is the origin of the song 'Take
me up to Monto'.

29. Henry Moore, Earl of Drogheda lived in Dublin
in the Eighteenth century. His job was naming
streets. He called several after himself. Henry
Street, Moore Street, Earl Street, Drogheda
Street. Drogheda Street later became
Sackville Street and is now O'Connell Street.

30. Nelson's Pillar was blown up in 1966 to mark
the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 rising. It now
lies in a heap in a valley in County Wicklow.

31. Leinster House in Dublin was originally built
as a private home for the Duke of Leinster. At
that time, the most fashionable part of Dublin was
the North Side and he was asked why he was
building on the South Side. He said 'Where I go,
fashion follows me!' ....and to this day the most
fashionable part of Dublin is the South Side.

32. Tallaght is one of the oldest placenames in
Ireland and it means 'The Plague cemetery'.

33. There are Five areas in Dublin whose names
end in the letter 'O'. Fewer than one Dubliner
in 20,000 can name them off by heart. They are:
Rialto, Marino, Portobello, Phibsboro and Pimlico.
(the Zoo isn’t one of them)

34. Kevin Street Garda Station was once the Palace
of the Archbishop Of Dublin.

35. The official name of TCD is still "The college of
the most Holy and Undivided Trinity of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth near Dublin". And on official documents
adds "The Provost, Fellows and Scholars of" .

09/06/2022

Summer Solstice:

The ancient Celtic festival acts as a timely reminder and celebration of who, where and what we really are.

For northern hemisphere dwellers, Summer Solstice - the longest day and the shortest night of our year - is usually celebrated on June 21st. This year, the exact time of the cross-quarter moment between Bealtaine (early Summer) and Lughnasadh (early Autumn) will be at 10:13 on Tuesday, 21 June 2022 (Irish time).

In Gaelic, Solstice is "Grianstad", literally 'sun-stop' and this is one of the two great peak moments of the light and dark interplay in our universe. Directly opposite Winter Solstice, this Saturday is the peak of the sun's highest climb into maximum light. However, it is the earth which is on an elliptical orbit around the sun which uniquely brings about this phenomenon.

For several days after June 20th, the hours and minutes of daylight will remain almost exactly the same and near June 25th, the light will imperceptibly begin to lessen as we move deeper into the second half of this season. In terms of light, Summer Solstice day is 9 hours, 30 minutes longer than on Winter Solstice in December.

As a sunflower will twist and turn throughout the day to face the sun, when we humans look upwards, open to the solar energies of Summer Solstice, we are no longer separated from ourselves or the environment. Our ancestors saw this key turning point in the Celtic calendar as momentous – a time of blooming, blossoming and wild abandon. Even though it does herald the light starting to lessen, we can imagine they revelled in the height of summer and the fresh earthy freedom seeking new pleasures before Harvest.

The eternal ancestral voice from spiritual traditions is remembered in ceremonies and rituals in nature that can remind us who, where and what we really are. It is a traditional time for weddings, fires, garlands of colourful blossoms, and dance rituals.

For a species that defines being spiritualised as enlightenment, the peak moment of light on our planet is extremely special. We are consumers of light through our diet made possible by photosynthesis. Many healing modalities are built on the phenomenon of our chakra system as being made of the constituents of light.

No matter how we find our lives at this time, we cannot be immune from the abundance of light, heat, radiation and electromagnetic energy peaking in our natural world. That immensity is poetically evoked in one of the great mythological stories of Ireland.

Our ancestors had many references to deify the sun, outstanding is Lugh the Sun God, known as Lugh Samhildánach or Lugh of the Many Arts. His entry to the court of King Nuada of the Tuatha Dé Danann (in Gaelic the "Tribe of Mother Earth") at Tara, the nexus of supreme power, was only possible by his response to the tests heaped upon him by the gatekeeper.

As told in legend and lore, he offered his services as a wright, a smith, a champion, a swordsman, a harpist, a hero, a poet and historian, a shaman, and a craftsman, but each time is rejected as the Tuatha Dé Danann already have someone with that skill.

However, when Lugh asks Nuada if they have anyone with all those skills combined, Nuada has to admit that he is the first to possess all these talents and so Lugh joins the court as Chief Ollam of Ireland, (Ollam is broadly equivalent to Professor in Gaelic).

Untangling the metaphor, when we too foster 'enlightenment’ within as Lugh did, we can discover and claim multiple potentials and gifts inherent in ourselves and take our place in the Tribe of Mother Earth, identified by our wisdom.

Cairn G at Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo, is unique as it is the only other passage tomb in Ireland that has a lightbox. For 8 weeks before and after the Summer Solstice, the rising sun shines through it. However, it does not light up the chamber as seen at Newgrange.

We are called to remember too that Summer Solstice heralds the slow return of the dark, which must be accepted with a knowing awareness

There is no greater invitation in the year’s turning than Summer Solstice ‘to shine our own inner light’ like the sun. We may allow the light to illuminate what is known and unknown in ourselves, accepting both our light and darker sides. We are called to remember too that Summer Solstice heralds the slow return of the dark after June 20th, which must be accepted with a knowing awareness.


!

05/05/2022

Joseph and Grace Plunkett married 3rd May 1916. The next day Joseph Plunkett was shot by firing squad in the stone breakers yard in Kilmainham Gaol. 2nd photograph is a Mural of Grace Gifford on an electrical box outside the Irish Museum of modern art steps from Kilmainham Gaol. Third photograph is a drawing Grace Plunkett Did of the Madonna and Child while a prisoner in Kilmainham Gaol herself.

05/05/2022

On this day in 1916, a young poet, journalist and patriot called Joe Plunkett was marched to the lonely ex*****on yard of Kilmainham Gaol…

The taste of his new bride, Grace Gifford's, last kiss still on his lips. The lovers had married only hours before, an all too brief humble service in the prison chapel.

The patriotic romance and tragedy was immortalised in the song "Grace" by the Wolfe Tones.

As Plunkett, the youngest signature of the Proclamation faced the firing squad he said:
“I am very happy I am dying for the glory of God and the honour of Ireland". No doubt Grace's dark eyes were the last thing he saw as the bullets flew.

But there was even more darkness to this romantic image. An artist and political activist in her own right, Grace's life as a widow would be marred by loneliness and poverty. Rather unfairly Plunkett had made her promise to never remarry, lest it tarnish her image as a martyr's wife. Also, Grace didn't receive anything from his inheritance for years. Technicalities of the Will being hastily drafted before the wedding, and there being only one witness in the chapel, created a loophole which Plunkett's parents exploited.

The woman who had already suffered and sacrificed so much for her country was forced to endure more. She initially struggled with poverty but eventually carved out a successful life for herself in the arts and politics. She passed away on 13th December 1955, her name still attached to the melancholy mystique of her widow. Yet by the end of her life, she was very much also an artist and activist in her own right.

28/03/2022

The Phoenix Park was one of the first places in Dublin to use gas street lighting back in 1825. There were 175 lamps in the Park, each which had to be lit at dusk and quenched at dawn. Lamplighters were engaged by the Board of Works, later the Office of Public Works (OPW) to do this work.

In earlier times, they went from lamp to lamp on foot carrying a five-foot malacca cane pole over their shoulder like a rifle with an eighteen inch torch at the end of it. The torch worked by means of acetylane which was kept in a brass container. To ignite the lamp, the torch was lit and the pole extended to touch off the gas head. The Lamplighters toolkit included a duster, a sponge and a tube of solution to clean the lamps and a chamois to polish them.

Later on, Lamplighters were supplied with standard Raleigh bicycles, red in colour; they balanced a ladder across its handlebars. They had no uniform but were provided with a short waterproof jacket and pull-ups. By then, they were paid extra for Saturdays and Sundays. An inspector monitored their work, following them on bikes or by car.

This lonely job meant interrupted sleep, unsociable hours and having to go out in all weathers, even on Christmas night, although Christmas often brought a drink or a pound note from Aras an Uachtarain or the American Embassy. A handful of families traditionally did the job of Lamplighter, the Flanagans being one such family. Thomas Flanagan did the job for 51 years until 1975. Lamplighters often encountered strange happenings under cover of darkness.

In the 1970s, the gas lamps in the Phoenix Park were replaced with electric wiring, although the old Victorian stands and lanterns were retained. In 1988, over 100 gas lamps were restored along the main thoroughfare in the Phoenix Park but these ignite automatically, negating the revival of the Lamplighter
Credit Tony Renyolds

24/03/2022

Iveagh Trust public baths. It is said for one penny you could treat yourself to a nice bath or for one hapenny you could share a bath full of water. Imagine getting into someone's Dirty water. (Could be a stranger.) The Bride for instance would have a bath coming up to her wedding and then carry a bunch of flowers on her wedding day to mask any lingering smell. 🥰

22/03/2022

The Children of Lir.
The King of Tuatha Dé Danaan.
A long time ago in Ireland, before the time of the Gael, there lived the people known as the Tuatha Dé Danaan.
They were a mystical race with very potent magic and their king was known as Bodh Dearg.
King Bodh Dearg was a fair and wise king but one of his nobles, Lir, disliked him immensely.
The King was very much aware of Lir’s resentment of him but he was wise enough to know that he needed to keep his kingdom united.
In order to placate Lir and soothe his resentment, King Bodh Dearg decided to give him one of his daughters as a wife.
The Children of Lir & Aoibh.
Lir was indeed pacified and of the two most beautiful daughters of Bodh Dearg he picked Aoibh.
Although it was a marriage of convenience, a great love grew between Aoibh and her new husband.
In time she bore him a very beautiful daughter, Fionnuala, and three handsome sons, Aedh, Conn, and Fiachra.
The family was filled with happiness and love but as always, sorrow has a way of seeping into a happy heart.
Aoibh fell ill and died, breaking not only her children’s hearts but also tearing the heart of Lir into little pieces.
Bodh Dearg was astounded at the love the family had for his daughter and for each other so he decided to give his second daughter, Aoife, to Lir.
Thinking that Aoife would be as kind and as gentle as her dead sister, Lir accepted her as his new wife.
He really hoped that in time he and his bereft children would grow to love Aoife as much as they loved Aoibh.
The jealousy of Aoife.
Now Aoife, as beautiful as she was, did not have the same gentle soul as her sister.
She saw how devoted her new husband was to his children and the love the children had for their father.
Her heart was filled not with love and devotion but with a deep burning jealousy.
Aoife wanted all of Lir’s love for herself and she came to hate her niece and nephews from the bottom of her rotten heart.
So when she and the children were returning on a visit to the house of her father, Bodh Dearg, Aoife decided the children should die.
Casting a magical spell.
Aoife ordered her servant to slay her step-children but when he refused she decided to do it herself.
However, when it came to doing the deed she found that she didn’t have the courage so decided to use magic upon them instead.
She conjured up all the power she could and cast a spell upon the poor children, turning them into swans and binding them to live 300 years on the waters of Loch Daibhreach (Lough Derryvarragh) followed by another 300 years in the north on the Struth na Maoile (Straits of Moyle) flying between the coasts of Éire and Alba.
Even after 600 years they were not to be freed from their curse but they would have to spend another 300 years in the west on the wild seas of Iorus Domnann and Inis Gluaire (Inish Glora).
Aoife also cast the spell so that it would not be lifted until the children would hear a bell ring announcing the arrival of a new religion.
Satisfied that the children were out of the way she continued on her visit to Bodh Dear.
When he heard what had happened to his grandchildren, Bodh Dearg was incensed and though he could have killed his daughter there and then, he decided that was not punishment enough for her.
He, in turn, decided to use magic and he cast his daughter Aoife away from him and all mankind by turning her into a demon of the air.
For 300 hundred years the four beautiful swans lived on the calm waters of Loch Daibhreach feeding on sweet grasses from the green fields around and the fish within the lake.
Their father, whose love for them never waned, came and spent time with them until it was his turn to leave the world, leaving them heartbroken once more.
Time had come for them to fly north east to the stormy stream of Maoile where the gales sweep through from the icy north.
Here, for three hundred more years, they lived on the storm wrecked shores of Ireland and Scotland.
This time there was no father to comfort them, they had only each other.
The ringing of a bell.
The time came for the sweet and beautiful children of Lir to fly west to the stormy western sea.
They settled on Inis Gluaire and for another 300 years they feed upon wrack and fish on the coasts of that terrible sea.
Their sorrow was unbearable but one day something different happened.
As the four swans fed they heard a noise, a pleasant clanging noise.
Although they had never heard anything like it before they knew what it was, a bell.
They just knew it was a bell and they realised that their time of freedom was at hand.
They went towards the source of the noise and saw that someone approached them along the shore.
The strangers on the shore was unlike anyone that they had known before, most certainly not from the Tuatha Dé Danaan.
He had a tonsured head and wore a rough homespun habit tied around the waist with a súgán (rope).
They spoke to him in greeting surprising him and he asked them who they were.
They related the saga of their misfortunes and he felt a great pity and love for them and in turn told them that his name was Caomhóg.
Arrival of a new religion to Éire.
The Dé Danaan were no longer on the land but had retreated into the sidhe underworld.
The children of the Gael now held the land and the old gods were no more for Patrick had come to Éire bringing news of the Christ Child who was the true God.
Caomhóg was a monk and he asked the swan children to go with him to his cille.
There he would look after them until the day the curse would finally be lifted from them and to this they agreed
As they patiently waited the monk explained the new religion to them.
One day a warrior entered their life.
Shouting that he was Lairgnen, the king of Connacht, he wanted the swan people as a wedding gift for his new wife Deoc.
Caomhóg stood in front of the king and rebuked him saying “you shall not have them” and then he rang his bell a second time.
Immediately the swans feathers fell away and they returned to human form.
All the years that the children of Lir had lived began to show on their bodies and they aged very quickly.
Lairgnen fled in terror but Fionnuala and her brothers each urged the monk Caomhóg to baptise them.
They knew that very soon they would perish and Fionnuala instructed the monk as to how they should be buried.
Fionnuala placed in the middle with Fiachra and Conn on either side of her, Aedh was put in front of her.
And this is how four of the Tuatha Dé Danaan entered into the Kingdom of Heaven.