FOMHOIRE. The Fomhoire are a hostile supernatural race who warred for control of Ireland against both gods and men. Descriptions of the Fomhoire vary widely in different texts and apparently reflect several distinct traditions. The Fomhoire are sometimes depicted as misshapen or half-animal in form, disproportionately female in numbers, or having only one leg, one arm, and one eye. In other sources, the Fomhoire resemble and intermarry with the gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann (The Tribes or Peoples of the Goddess Danu). Later Irish and Scottish Gaelic folklore know the fomhóir (Scottish Gaelic, famhair) as raiders from the sea or marauding giants, and throughout Irish literature the Fomhoire manifest both sea connections and supernatural origins. For example, "the cattle of Tethra"—an early poetic kenning about the Fomhorian king Tethra—refers to the waves, and in an eighth-century tale the people of Tethra dwell in a timeless...