There are legends where the machtíre is considered to be half human, which is supposed to be the explanation of the name. Airitech had three werewolf daughters and there's the story of the werewolf of Ossory who declared himself to the priest as being under the curse of having the appearance of a wolf but in fact being a man.

Conas a bheadh eagla ar éinne roimh an créatúirín seo? / How could anyone be scared of this little fella?

http://www.wimp.com/babywolf/

_________________

I don't really see how the name mach tíre ["son of the land/country"] necessarily implies that wolves are half human, but it's an interesting theory.

It is my understanding that the daughters of Airitech were not wolves themselves, but could take the form of wolves at will. And then there's also the goddess Morrigan who could take the form of a wolf; I'm not understanding the connexion between any of this and mach tíre though. I've never heard of the Ossory story before, so I can't comment on that one.


* edit:
Tá an ceart agat, a Shaoirse – that baby wolf didn't have a very scary howl.

This might be a question of the interaction between Christianity and former 'Heathen' peoples and their beliefs. Those who were there before and so belonged to the country weren't Christian but in spite of that, they were human. (The winner always gets to write the story in their favour.)
www.libraryireland.com/Wonders/Man-Wolves.php - The Man-Wolves of Ossary