Torc Waterfall
| Torc Waterfall Irish: Easach Toirc | |
| County Kerry | |
|---|---|
 Torc Waterfall | |
| River: | Owengarriff River |
| Fall: | 66 feet |
| Type: | Cascade |
| V966847 | |
| Co-ordinates: | 52°0’18"N, 9°30’24"W |
Torc Waterfall is a waterfall 66 feet high, in a cascade 360 feet long, plunging down the slopes of Torc Mountain, amongst the Mangerton Mountains of County Kerry, and within the Killarney National Park. The fall is formed by the Owengarriff River as it drains from the Devil's Punchbowl, a large corrie lake on Mangerton Mountain. Its Irish-language name is Easach Toirc, meaning 'cascade of the wild boar'.[1]
The waterfall is at the base of Torc Mountain. It is to be found four and a half miles from Killarney.[2][3] The waterfall is a popular site on the Ring of Kerry and the Kerry Way tours.[4]
Name
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 Mangerton Mountain from which the Owengarriff River emerged to hide the entrance to his cave beneath the Torc Waterfall.[5][6] There is also the story of how the legendary Irish warrior, Fionn MacCumhaill, killed a magical boar on Torc mountain with his golden spear.[7]
Geology
The waterfall carries the Owengarriff River 66 feet down the hillside as it drains from the Devil's Punchbowl, a deep tarn in a corrie high above on Mangerton Mountain.[8]
Torc Waterfall sits on a geological fault called the Muckross to Millstreet Fault Line. Torc Mountain consists of 400 million-year-old Devonian Old Red Sandstone, 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 10,000 feet, re-exposing the underlying older sandstone.[8]
Visiting
Torc Waterfall is four miles from Killarney, and a mile and a half from the gates of Muckross House.[9] The cascade is one of the main points on the 124-mile Kerry Way walking tour,[3] and a popular stop-off location on the larger Ring of Kerry tour.[4][10]
The waterfalls are a 200-yard walk from the car park (at V966847) just off the N71 road,[2][11] and the climb to the top of the waterfalls is by way of a stone path of about a hundred steps, and takes around 30 minutes to complete.[4][8] Red deer are frequently seen and heard in the area.[10]
A number of loop-trails have been laid out around the Torc Waterfall of varying lengths, called the Blue, Yellow and Red Trails.[12] 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 about 500 yards west of the waterfall car-park off the N71)[13] to an observation point and stone beehive hut, half-way up Torc Mountain at about a thousand feet,[14] giving views of the Lakes of Killarney, and then looping back eastwards to join the Old Kenmare Road and descend via Torc Waterfall.[15]
A marked hiking trail also runs from the waterfall to the top of Torc Mountain by way of the Old Kenmare Road, however, hikers can avoid Torc Waterfall and start from the upper car-park above the waterfall (V967842), to complete the five-mile three-hour route to the summit of Torc Mountain and back.[4][10]
See also
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Torc Waterfall) |
|
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Owengarriff River) |
Outside links
- Torc Waterfall on Tourism Ireland
References
- ↑ Torc Waterfall: Loganim.ie
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Torc Waterfall". Killarney National Park. https://www.killarneynationalpark.ie/visit-us/torc-waterfall/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Killarney to Torc Waterfall". KerryWay.com. http://www.kerryway.com/trail-description/killarney-torc-waterfall.php.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Fairbairn, Helen (2014). Ireland's Best Walks: A Walking Guide. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848892118. "Route 46: Torc Mountain. [..] From the main Torc Waterfall car-park, follow the signs for A wide footpath leads through the woods to a viewpoint beneath the main falls where the Owengarrif River plunges over a series of rocky walls on its way to Muckross Lake. The cascade is acclaimed as one of the finest waterfalls in Ireland and is popular with tourists during the summer months."
- ↑ "Torc Waterfall Walk". Gems Publishing Limited. http://www.kerrygems.com/kerry-gems-app/the-best-walks-in-kerry/torc-waterfall-walk/. "History to know: Torc waterfall derives its name from the Gaelic word torc meaning a wild boar. According to legend, the waterfall was created by a man who had been cursed by the Devil to spend each night transformed into a wild boar. He lived in a cavern beneath the cliffs of the mountain. His secret was discovered one night by a local farmer out looking for missing animals. The boar offered him great riches not to reveal his secret but became furious when his plight was revealed. In his anger, he is said to have burst into a ball of flame and disappeared into the Devils Punchbowl lake on nearby Mangerton Mountain. The lakewater burst forth and created the waterfall to hide forever the Boars cavern beneath the waterfall."
- ↑ "Loop 10: Torc Waterfall". Discover Ireland. https://www.discoverireland.ie/getmedia/6ee4e83f-bf01-48d0-88f6-3e3ae70edcf4/KerryWalkingMaps.aspx. "Torc Waterfall – Mythical Landscapes"
- ↑ Donald E. Meek (July 1990). "The Death of Diarmaid in Scottish and Irish Tradition". Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. https://www.dias.ie/wp-content/uploads/webstore/celt/pubs/celtica/c21/c21-335.pdf.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Jim Ryan (1 October 2012). Scenic Walks in Killarney. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848891463. "Walk 11: Torc Waterfall Circuit"
- ↑ Ireland for Dummies By Elizabeth Albertson, Liz Albertson p290
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Paddy Dillon (10 March 2005). The Irish Coast to Coast Walk: Dublin to Bray Head. p. 156. ISBN 978-1852844332. "Day 21: Muckross to Black Valley"
- ↑ Frommer's Ireland Day by Day By Christi Daugherty, Jack Jewers p289
- ↑ "Torc Trails". Killarney National Park. https://www.killarneynationalpark.ie/explore/walking-hiking/walking-trails/torc/.
- ↑ "Cardiac Hill, Torc Mountain". KillarneyGuide.ie. https://killarneyguide.ie/cardiac-steps/.
- ↑ "Cardiac Steps & Torc Mountain". HardCoreHillwalkingClub.ie. 26 March 2017. http://hardcorehillwalkers.blogspot.com/2017/04/cardiac-steps-torc-mountain_2.html.
- ↑ Seán Kenehan (24 November 2018). "This Unassuming Walking Trail has some of the Most Spectacular Views in Ireland". Lovin.ie. https://lovin.ie/counties/kerry/cardiac-steps-torc-mountain-walk-killarney.