Torc Waterfall, Waterfall in Killarney National Park, Ireland.
Torc Waterfall is a cascade within Killarney National Park where water drops roughly 20 meters down rocky ledges into a pool below. The site sits surrounded by dense forest and shows the natural water systems and vegetation patterns that define this part of County Kerry.
Torc Waterfall lies on the Muckross to Millstreet Fault Line, where the Owengarriff River drops about 20 metres from the Devil's Punchbowl lake on Mangerton Mountain. The river carved its course over Devonian Old Red Sandstone roughly 400 million years old, while the limestone around nearby Muckross Lake is about 100 million years younger. Tectonic collision later lifted the sandstone beneath Torc by some 3,000 metres.
The Irish name Easach Toirc means "cascade of the wild boar", and the area is tied to boar legends. One tells of a man cursed by the Devil to become a wild boar each night; exposed by a local farmer, he burst into flames and vanished into the Devil's Punchbowl, the lake feeding the Owengarriff River, which hides his cave beneath the falls. Another credits the warrior Fionn MacCumhaill with killing a magical boar on Torc Mountain with his golden spear.
The cascade is a 200-metre walk from the car park just off the N71 road. A stone path of about a hundred steps climbs to the top, gaining roughly 55 metres and taking around 30 minutes. Blue, Yellow and Red loop trails start nearby; the Red Trail climbs steep stone steps to a stone beehive hut at about 300 metres.
The cascade drops over the Muckross to Millstreet Fault Line, where 400-million-year-old Devonian Old Red Sandstone of Torc Mountain meets Carboniferous Limestone about 100 million years younger near Muckross Lake. Tectonic collision later lifted the land by 3,000 metres, re-exposing the older sandstone.
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