Laoghaire, the son of the Autumnal Goddess and a shepherd named Ofydd, was very blessed in the realm of making friends. He knew many people in the village at the base of Cnoc Sliabh, and was happy to call every person he met his 'friend.'
Of all his friends, he was closest to a young man called Corwin, the son of the village baker. Corwin was a slight lad, a head shorter than the lean Laoghaire, and was relentlessly picked on by his peers, but Laoghaire had a deep affection for the boy. The two went everywhere together; Laoghaire spent much time in Corwin's father's bakery, and, in turn, Corwin would often follow Ofydd and Laoghaire out to the fields with their sheep. It was a rare sight to see one without the other, with many often stating that if you needed to find Corwin in a crowd, you should just look for Laoghaire.
Winter did not seem to favor the family of the Goddess, and Laoghaire's 18th Winter was no different, for, while he, Ofydd, and the Winter Goddess were snowed into their cabin on the cliffs of Cnoc Sliabh, Corwin fell gravely ill.
By Ostara, Laoghaire was able to attend to the bedside of his dear friend, but it was too late. Corwin died mere days after the transition to Spring. As his spirit left his body, Corwin took with him everything that Laoghaire held dear. After Corwin's death, he stayed in his home, never attending to the sheep with his father, nor helping at temple with his mother. While many in the village told Ofydd and the Goddess that it would pass, it seemed that Laoghaire's depression worsened every day that Corwin was no longer with him.
This was not the end of the despair that Winter brought to the life of the Goddess, for Laoghaire, too, would not live to see the next Yule. So destroyed by his sadness over the death of Corwin, he took a knife from his father's toolkit and slashed his wrists, bleeding to death in the snow at the peak of Cnoc Sliabh.
Now the Winter Goddess and Ofydd, too, were eaten by their despair over the loss of their only son, not even 20 years of age. Like she had before, the Winter Goddess turned to her spellbook in hopes of finding an answer to her grief. And, among the pages of spells and potion recipes, she found the answer to her prayers.
The land of Mag Mell had, for generations, been considered the home of those who had left their mortal bodies. And here, in her spellbook, the Winter Goddess had found a ritual which allowed one to pass from Tír na nÒg to Mag Mell and back. The ritual required the petals of a daffodil, however, so the Winter Goddess was forced to wait until spring, when daffodils would bloom across the cliffsides of Cnoc Sliabh.
As soon as the first daffodil opened its petals to show the world, the Spring Goddess began to prepare her ritual, drawing a circle in the dirt beside her home and setting up an altar, where she laid out the required materials, including the petals of the daffodil which were integral to the ritual. As she read the words aloud, the separation between Mag Mell and Tír na nÒg grew thinner and thinner, until the Spring Goddess began to see the grassy plains of Mag Mell in front of her very eyes. And there, standing in the long grass, were Corwin and Laoghaire.
Elated to see her son again, and only months after having had to bury him only paces away from where she now sat, the Spring Goddess cried out, catching the attention of both young men, who came to the edge of the portal to see her.
The Spring Goddess urged both young men to step through the portal, back into Tír na nÒg, where they were both sorely missed. Though hesitant, Laoghire stepped through the portal, embracing his mother, who had despaired so terribly over his death. However, when both turned to have Corwin join them, they found that the young man could not step through the portal. It was the curse of his mortality—While Laoghaire came from immortals, Corwin did not, therefore forcing him to forever stay in Mag Mell.
Not wanting to let go of her son, yet understanding his despair without Corwin by his side, the clever Spring Goddess devised a plan which would allow both her and Loaghire to be happy. She proposed that, like his father, he become a shepherd, but not for sheep. Instead, the Spring Goddess ordered her son to become a shepherd for the dead, traveling throughout Tír na nÒg and collecting lost souls, those who had died but for various reasons could not travel to Mag Mell. She then created a rune, which she suspended from a piece of red string, which allowed Laoghire, upon uttering a specific phrase, to travel from Tír na nÒg to Mag Mell and back.
So the shepherd of the dead, Laoghire became, spending his time traveling to find lost souls and bring them to rest in Mag Mell, the fields of the dead, so that they could spend eternity at peace. And Laoghire, too, could spend his eternity in peace, for now he would never live apart from his dear friend Corwin again.