Aed
Aed, or Aodh, is the prince of the Daoine Sidhe and a god of the underworld in Irish mythology. He is known from inscriptions as the eldest son of Lir, High King of the Tuatha de Dannan, and Aobh, a daughter of Bobhdh Dearg.
According to tradition, Aobh died in childbirth after bearing Lir four children (two sets of twins): Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra, and Conn. Aoife, the second wife of Lir, and in some versions of the story, the sister of Aobh, was very jealous of the children and conspired to kill them on a journey to see Bodhbh Dearg, the former King of the Tuatha de Dannan. But for love of the Children of Lir, the servants of Aoife would not slay the children, and so she cursed them to live as swans for 900 years: 300 upon Lake Darvra, 300 in the English Channel, and 300 on the open sea.
Legend says they kept their voices and learned all the songs and tales of Ireland, as well as the many languages brought by travelers from distant places.
There are numerous variations on the culmination of the story after the breaking of Aoife's curse, and most are obviously influenced by the spreading of Christianity to the British Isles. For more on the story
Aoibheal
Is known as the Queen of the Seelie court of the sidhe. The fairy queen of the north of Munster is Aoibheal; she is the ancestral deity of the O'Briens, (the descendants of Brian Boru) who rules from Craig Liath (grey rock) in Co. Clare. At the great battle of Clontarf, Aoibheal had fore-knowledge of the outcome and tried to warn her people. Aoibheal is revered in many of the 'Aislings', the vision poems of the eighteenth century concerning the future freedom of Ireland.
