Long ago, four children are transformed into swans and sent into exile. They cannot return home. All they can do is sing.

The Children of Lir: Birds, Belonging, and Place is an eight-week Gaelic-Australian storytelling workshop series presented by Singing Blackbird Enterprises.

We enter the popular Irish legend Oidheadh Chlainne Lir (The Fate of the Children of Lir) to see how it also might enter us. We’ll explore this ancestral story and the culture that has grown up around it in Ireland. Each participant will also learn more about a chosen Melbourne bird, in the process discovering what the bird and the story have to teach us about belonging in this land.

Short readings and activity prompts will be offered to help prepare for each session. The series culminates with an encounter with the story in the land and waters of Naarm.

No Irish/Scottish ancestry or prior knowledge of Gaelic mythology or birds is required. Just a willingness to pay attention to what awakens when stories begin to speak to each other in place.

8th August-3rd October 2026

Eight Saturdays 10-12pm at Balam Balam Place, Brunswick, except for 12th September, which will be outdoors at a place TBC. There will be no session on 26th September; the series concludes on 3rd October, the following week.

$150 unwaged / $200 underemployed / $250 waged / supporter $300.

Contact Chris at the link for more details.