Sterling Silver Children Of Lir Brooch Designed by Aidan Breen

Description

The Children of Lir is a very well known Celtic myth.This piece was designed by Aidan Breen, a silversmith from Dublin.

10cm by 10cmn

Hallmarked in Dublin Castle

Many years in ancient Ireland King Lir ruled our land. He had a beautiful wife called Eva, who gave him four children – Unfortunately Eva died and he remarried her sister Aofe who was very jealous of his children.She cast a spell to change them into swans. The children were to spend 900 years in loughs and the Sea.

She left the children with their voices and the gift of sound, So when King Lir passed by the lake he was amazed to hear the swans calling his name. The Children told the King what happened and he was so enraged he banished Aoife into the mist, and she was never seen again.
He lived the rest of his life by the lake to be with his children and to listen to their beautiful singing voices. When the King died the children were left to spend their days on the cold lakes of Ireland until the spell was finally broken.

One day, they heard the distant ringing of a bell – one of the first Christian bells in all of Ireland – and swans followed the sound, knowing that the end of their spell was near. They followed bells to the house of a holy man called Caomhog, who cared for them during the last years of their fate.he children were transformed back into human form and legend has it they were one of the first people to be converted to Christianity.

Aidan captured this story beautifully with this brooch which is very popular in our stores.