The Fomorians, a formidable race that preceded the legendary Tuatha Dé Dannan, were the personification of Chaos; dangerous, raw, uncontrolled magic. They were demons, sea raiders and giants, their very name relating to creatures from ‘below the sea’, or the earth.
BALOR’S EYE
The leader of this tribe was Balor, a hideous giant whose face bore a singular, poisonous eye that wreaked death and despair upon anyone who met its gaze. In some folktales, there was an additional eye at the back of his head, which had abilities likened to that of a Basilisk, or a Gorgon. Balor was typically depicted with seven coverings over his eye.
As a child, Balor may have been ordinary in appearance, but his fate changed when curiosity led him to spy on his father’s Druids who were preparing a potion of wisdom. As he drew closer to peer into the steaming pot, the potent fumes pierced his eye, transforming it into something far more hideous.
In older age, as his strength began to wane and the power of his eye weighed down on him, Balor found himself unable to open his eyelid unaided, relying on servants to pry them open for him.
TORY ISLAND
Balor was a powerful yet cruel leader, and an even crueler father. Once he learned of a prophecy predicting that his grandson would bring his demise, Balor did not hesitate to imprison his only daughter, Ethniu, in a lonesome tower, hiding her from all male interaction. If Ethniu did not fall pregnant, then Balor would not die.
But Balor’s greed pushed him to steal a cow with magical properties, which belonged to Cian the Mighty of the Tuatha Dé Dannan. Cian, furious and eager to exact revenge, knew of the grandson Ethniu was fated to bear, and devised a plan to fulfil the hated prophecy.
With the help of his familiar, Cian cleverly disguised himself as a Druidess, deceiving Balor and gaining entry to the tower where Ethniu lived. There, he charmed and impregnated her, leading to the birth of three strong sons. When Balor learned of this, revulsion for his daughter and fear that the prophecy would come true prompted him to order the ruthless drowning of his three grandchildren. Two of the sons died, however one survived. Lugh, the remaining son, was raised in secret, sheltered from the reach of his grandfather.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF MAG TUIRED
The Fomorians and the Tuatha Dé Dannan endured a long conflict before the Fomorians were finally defeated in the Second Battle of Mag Tuired. Balor was initially successful, claiming the lives of many warriors, including the leader of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, Nuada. However, by this point in time Balor no longer possessed the robustness of his younger years, and the burden of his eye was so heavy that it took the strength of four soldiers to keep it open.
Balor’s victory was fleeting. Lugh, despite his Fomorian lineage, fought alongside the race of the gods. With a precise strike, he pierced Balor’s half-open eye, killing him just as the prophecy had predicted. Balor was dead, but even as his body lay lifeless on the ground, the power of his wretched eye endured, killing dozens of his own men.
Once Lugh had killed Balor, he decapitated him, placing his head on a stone. The fluids that seeped from the severed neck pooled below into a poisonous lake.
REFERENCES
Fomoire | Giants, Sea-Demons & Monsters | Britannica
Balor | Irish God, Fomorian King, Evil Eye | Britannica
Ethereal Chronicles 
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