Torc Mountain (), at , is the 329th–highest peak in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on the

Arderin Arderin () is a mountain on the border between counties Laois and Offaly in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is ...

list. It is a popular mountain for hill walkers as it has a stone or boarded path (using

railway sleepers Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

) from its base at

Torc Waterfall Torc Waterfall () is a high, long cascade waterfall formed by the Owengarriff River as it drains from the ''Devil's Punchbowl (Kerry), Devil's Punchbowl'' corrie lake at Mangerton Mountain. The waterfall, which lies at the base of Torc Mounta ...

to its summit, which has views of the

Lakes of Killarney The Lakes of Killarney are a scenic attraction located in Killarney National Park near Killarney, County Kerry, in Ireland. They consist of three lakes: Lough Leane, Muckross Lake (also called Middle Lake) and Upper Lake. Surroundings The ...

. Torc Mountain is part of the

Mangerton Mountain Group 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 c ...

range in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland.

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". 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 The Devil's Punch Bowl is a visitor attraction and biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated just to the east of the village of Hindhead in the English county of Surrey. It is part of the Wealden Heaths Phase II Special Protection ...

'' on

Mangerton Mountain Mangerton or Mangerton Mountain (), at , is the 19th-highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin list, and the 26th–highest mountain according to the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur ...

from which the Owengarriff River emerged to hide the entrance to his cave beneath the

. There is also the story of how the legendary Irish warrior,

Fionn MacCumhaill Fionn mac Cumhaill, often anglicised Finn McCool or MacCool, is a hero in Irish mythology, as well as in later Scottish and Manx folklore. He is the leader of the ''Fianna'' bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer and ...

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

Geography

Torc Mountain is part of the

which is a

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

to the south of

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

that includes 26 other named peaks with a height above .Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: The Vandeleur-Lynams & the Arderins", Collins Books, Cork, Torc sits in the north-west corner of the massif and immediately west of Torc Mountain is the subsidiary summit of Torc Mountain West Top . Torc's height and

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

, qualifies it on the British Isles Marilyn classification, as well as the

classification.

Hill walking

Torc is popular for hill walkers as it can be accessed from a marked stone-step path its base at

, which then becomes a small road (the ''Old Kenmare Road'') from the top of Torc Waterfall to the mountain itself, and then finishes with a track of wooden railway "sleepers" over the underlying bogland to its summit at . The route can thus be completed without full hiking boots, and requires no special navigational skills. The summit of Torc has views of the

, the Black Valley, the

MacGillycuddy's Reeks MacGillycuddy's Reeks () is a sandstone and siltstone mountain range in the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Stretching , from the Gap of Dunloe in the east, to Glencar, County Kerry, Glencar in the west, the Reeks is Ireland's high ...

and

Muckross House Muckross House () 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, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 1932 it was presented by William ...

and grounds. The route from the Torc Waterfall car-park (at ), to the summit of Torc Mountain and back is 8–kilometres and takes 3 hours. Hill walkers can avoid the circa 100 steps of Torc Waterfall and start instead from the upper Torc Waterfall car-park (at 55 metres, ), to complete the shorter 7.5–kilometre hour 2.5–hour route to the summit of Torc Mountain, via the ''Old Kenmare Road'', and back to the upper car-park. The northerly views from the summit of Torc Mountain can be achieved by climbing the steep stone steps up the lower '' Cardiac Hill'', which is half-way up the north facing slopes of Torc Mountain, and which can be accessed from the N71 Road, half a kilometre from the Torc Waterfall car-park.

Bibliography

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References

External links

MountainViews: The Irish Mountain Website
Torc Mountain

the largest database of British Isles mountains ("

DoBIH The mountains and hills of the British Isles are categorised into various lists based on different combinations of elevation, prominence, and other criteria such as isolation. These lists are used for peak bagging, whereby hillwalkers attempt ...

")
Hill Bagging UK & Ireland
the searchable interface for the