Sea waterMilkWhite feathersBreadSilence kept by the shore
Invocation Approach
Tone
Tidal and grieving
Address
LirFather of the SeaSea-Lord
Relationship
The sea that holds what it takes
Warning
He is water not a consoler
Resonance
The bereaved those who live by water
Symbols
WaveSwan chainSilver chainShore
Mythology Summary
Lir is the sea itself: the word is the old Irish for sea (ler nominative, lir genitive), he is the father of Manannán mac Lir, and Cormac's Glossary of the ninth century already explains 'son of the sea' as the meaning of mac Lir. In Lebor Gabála he is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann and an ancestor figure, named Allod in some genealogies, and the Welsh Llŷr is his cognate. He is the father of the four swan children in the late romance Oidheadh Chlainne Lir.
Modern Practice
Honoured at the shore and in grief work, especially the loss of children, and the swan-children tale is the story most often carried into practice. Offerings go to the water and are not retrieved.