Torc Mountain
| Torc Mountain | |
|---|---|
| Sliabh Torc | |
 View from the summit of Torc Mountain looking westwards to the Upper Lake in the Black Valley | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 535 m (1,755 ft)[1] |
| Prominence | 300 m (980 ft)[1] |
| Listing | Marilyn, Arderin |
| Coordinates | 52°00′0″N 9°31′0″W / 52.00000°N 9.51667°W |
| Geography | |
  Torc Mountain Location in Ireland | |
| Location | Kerry, Ireland |
| Parent range | East Kerry |
| OSI/OSNI grid | V955839 |
| Topo map | OSi Discovery 78 |
Torc Mountain (Irish: Sliabh Torc, meaning 'mountain of wild boar'),[2] at 535 metres (1,755 ft), is the 329th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list. It is a popular mountain for hill walkers as it has a stone/boarded path from its base at Torc Waterfall to its summit, which has views of the Lakes of Killarney.[3]
Naming
The word Torc comes from the Irish translation of a "wild boar", and the area is associated with legends involving wild boars – Irish academic Paul Tempan notes that: "Wild boar is significant in Celtic mythology, being depicted on Celtic artefacts found in continental Europe, Ireland and Britain; it represents physical strength and heroic fighting skills".[2] 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 Devil's Punchbowl on Mangerton Mountain from which the Owengarriff River emerged to hide the entrance to his cave beneath the Torc Waterfall.[4][5] There is also the story of how the legendary Irish warrior, Fionn MacCumhaill, killed a magical boar on Torc mountain with his golden spear.[6]
Hill walking
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Torc Mountain is a popular mountain for hill walkers as it has a marked stone/boarded path from its base, at the Torc Waterfall attraction, to its summit at 535 metres (1,755 ft); the final path to the summit follows a track of wooden railway "sleepers" over the underlying bogland.[7] The route can thus be completed without full hiking boots, and requires no special navigational skills.[7][8]
_-_geograph.org.uk_-_777017.jpg)
The summit of Torc Mountain has views of the Lakes of Killarney, the Black Valley, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Muckross House and grounds.[3] The total route from the Torc Waterfall car-park (at V966847), to the summit of Torc Mountain and back is 8–kilometres and takes circa 3–4 hours.[3]
Hill walkers can avoid the circa 100 steps of Torc Waterfall and start instead from the upper Torc Waterfall car-park (at 55 metres, V967842), to complete the shorter 7–kilometre hour 3–hour route to the summit of Torc Mountain and back to the upper car-park.[3][9]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Mangerton Area / Torc Mountain". MountainViews. Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
- ^ a b Paul Tempan (February 2012). "Irish Hill and Mountain Names" (PDF). MountainViews.ie.
- ^ a b c d 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. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
Torc Waterfall – Mythical Landscapes
- ^ Donald E. Meek (July 1990). "THE DEATH OF DIARMAID IN SCOTTISH AND IRISH TRADITION" (PDF). Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- ^ a b Jim Ryan (1 October 2012). Scenic Walks in Killarney. Collins Press. ISBN 978-1848891463.
Walk 11: Torc Waterfall Circuit
- ^ Grace Harding (21 January 2017). "Torc Mountain". The Idyll.
The combination of rocky path and sleepers will take you all the way up the summit. So unlike other mountains in Kerry, you won't need any navigation skills.
- ^ 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
External links
52°00′N 9°31′W / 52.000°N 9.517°W
