On a grassy patch of Antrim’s Ballycastle seafront, four swans hang in the air, mid-flight. This bright white statue doesn’t depict just any swans. These are the Children of Lir – four children turned to birds by a jealous stepmother. The tale tells us that the siblings spent 300 years on Lough Derravaragh in Westmeath and the island of Inisglora off Mayo’s coast. They also found sanctuary across from where their statue sits today: Antrim’s gorgeous Rathlin Island. Endings to the tale vary, but all agree that it was Rathlin Island where the swans returned to their human forms and breathed their last breaths.
