Overview
About O’Sullivan’s Cascade
Why stop
- The high route adds far-reaching views over Lough Leane and the mountains.
Heads up
- The steep spur drops about 130 steps, then climbs back out.
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Killarney Tour Guide
Your drive to O’Sullivan’s Cascade, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Killarney National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Tomies Wood and O'Sullivan's Cascade“You're approaching Tomies Wood, where a woodland walk leads to O'Sullivan's Cascade.”
Plays as you drive up to O’Sullivan’s Cascade in the Parkwolf Killarney Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ross Island Copper Mines
- Ross Castle and Innisfallen
- Knockreer and Deenagh Lodge
- Five Mile Bridge and Eagles’ Nest
- 18 audio storiesacross Killarney’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Sika Deer, Feral Goat, and 11 more
- Works offlinemaps, 29 trails, 32 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about O’Sullivan’s Cascade
Make the stairs part of the planO’Sullivan’s Cascade is a small, stepped waterfall in Tomies Wood above Lough Leane.
O’Sullivan’s Cascade is a small, stepped waterfall in Tomies Wood above Lough Leane. A signed spur leaves the woodland walk and drops about 130 steps to the falls, with another short descent to the lake edge. This is a walk-in stop, not a roadside pullout, and you climb back up the same steep steps. The stones can be slick, so if stairs or uneven ground are a problem, skip the spur and enjoy the woodland route instead.
Take the higher route for the viewThe Tomies Wood loop has a lower and a higher route.
The Tomies Wood loop has a lower and a higher route. The high section opens out over Lough Leane toward Killarney, Ross Castle, Tomies Mountain, Shehy and Purple Mountain. The cascade is the close-up stop; the upper path is where the landscape spreads out.
Look closely at the fallsFrom the railed path beside the water, you can see the stream stepping over dark, mossy shelves…
From the railed path beside the water, you can see the stream stepping over dark, mossy shelves into the pool below. For a photo, include some of those rocks and the basin around the falling water; they show the cascade’s shape and its woodland setting.
A wood with rare detailsA protected, Near Threatened moss called Hypnum uncinulatum has been recorded on rocks and on…
A protected, Near Threatened moss called Hypnum uncinulatum has been recorded on rocks and on holly and downy birch near the cascade and lakeshore. Tomies Wood also has a place in Killarney’s wildlife records: the park’s first recorded Great Spotted Woodpecker sighting was here in 2013, and its first breeding pair was confirmed in 2024.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Killarney
106 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
209 sightingsSika DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsFeral GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
49 sightingsSwanMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
48 sightingsHeronMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
16 sightingsCormorantMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Killarney. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
