Torc Waterfall () is a high, long cascade

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

formed by the Owengarriff River as it drains from the '' Devil's Punchbowl'' corrie lake at

Mangerton Mountain Mangerton or Mangerton Mountain (), at , is the 19th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the 26th–highest mountain according to the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Mangerton is the tallest mountain in the Mangerton Mountain Group, also ...

. The waterfall, which lies at the base of Torc Mountain, in the

Killarney National Park Killarney National Park ( ga, Páirc Náisiúnta Chill Airne), near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has sinc ...

, is from

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Cast ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The waterfall is a popular site on the Ring of Kerry and the

Kerry Way The Kerry Way () is a long-distance trail in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a long circular trail that begins and ends in Killarney and is typically broken into nine stages. It is designated as a long-distance trails in the Republic of Ireland, Na ...

tours.

Naming

Torc Waterfall at Killarney National Park2

The word Torc is from the Irish translation of a "wild boar", and the area is associated with legends involving wild boars. One legend is of a man who was cursed by the Devil to spend each night transformed into a wild boar, but when his secret was revealed by a local farmer, he burst into flames and disappeared into the nearby ''Devils Punchbowl'' on

from which the Owengarriff River emerged to hide the entrance to his cave beneath the Torc Waterfall. There is also the story of how the legendary Irish warrior,

Fionn MacCumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill ( ; Old and mga, Find or ''mac Cumail'' or ''mac Umaill''), often anglicized Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of y ...

, killed a magical boar on Torc mountain with his golden spear.

Geology

The 20 meters high waterfall is formed by the Owengarriff River as it drains from the '' Devil's Punchbowl'' lough, a deep

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...

high above in

. Torc Waterfall sits on a geological fault called the ''Muckross to Millstreet Fault Line''. Torc Mountain consists of 400 million-year-old

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

, but the base around Muckross Lake is circa 100 million years younger and consists of Carboniferous Limestone. At some stage, after the limestone was deposited, a period of tectonic-plate collision occurred and the land under Torc was lifted up 3,000 metres, re-exposing the underlying older sandstone.

Visiting

Torc Waterfall is from

, and from the gates of

Muckross House Muckross House ( ga, Teach Mhucrois) is located on the small Muckross Peninsula between Muckross Lake and Lough Leane, two of the lakes of Killarney, from the town of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. In 1932 it was presented by Willia ...

, in the

. The cascade is one of the main points on the

walking tour, and a popular stop-off location on the larger Ring of Kerry tour. The waterfalls are a 200 metre walk from the car park (at ) just off the N71 road, and the climb to the top of the waterfalls is by way of a stone path of about a hundred steps (and circa 55 metres in elevation gain), and takes around 30 minutes to complete.

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

are frequently seen and heard in the area. Steps up Cardiac Hill, Torc Waterfall, Killarney, Ireland

has a number of loop-trails around the Torc Waterfall of varying lengths, called the Blue, Yellow and Red Trails. The Red Trail climbs Cardiac Hill (also called ''Huntsman's Hill'' or the ''Cardiac Steps''), and involves climbing a very steep series of stone steps (the starting point is half a kilometre west of the waterfall car-park off the N71) to an observation point and stone

beehive hut A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

, half-way up Torc Mountain at circa , giving views of the Lakes of Killarney, and then looping back eastwards to join the ''Old Kenmare Road'' and descend via Torc Waterfall. A marked hiking trail also runs from the waterfall to the top of Torc Mountain via the ''Old Kenmare Road'', however, hikers can avoid Torc Waterfall and start from the upper car-park above the waterfall (at 55 metres, ), to complete the 8–kilometre 3 hour route to the summit of Torc Mountain and back.

References

External links

Torc Waterfall
on

Tourism Ireland Tourism Ireland (Irish: ''Turasóireacht Éireann''; Ulster-Scots: ''Tourism Airlan'' or ''Reengin Airlann'') is the marketing body responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas. Tourism Ireland was established as one of "six areas o ...

website or this guide. {{authority control Tourist attractions in County Kerry Landforms of County Kerry

Waterfalls of the Republic of Ireland Parks in County Kerry

Naming

Geology

Visiting

See also

References

External links