Laragh is a crossroads village in the middle of County Wicklow, and it is where the Military Road finishes its long run across the bog and drops into the green valleys. There are few buildings: a handful of pubs and cafes, a hostel, a church and a gift shop. It sits at the meeting of several glens, and the nearest larger towns are Rathdrum and Rathnew, ten to fifteen kilometres away, so this is not the place to count on fuel. Fill the tank before you come up from the city.
A short ride away, in the next glen, sits Glendalough, the Valley of Two Lakes, one of Ireland's great monastic sites. St Kevin founded a settlement here in the sixth century, and the ruins include a round tower over thirty metres tall, a cathedral, a stone gatehouse and the little church known as St Kevin's Kitchen. The lakes are dark and still, backed by wooded cliffs, and the place is both beautiful and sad in the way old monastic sites can be. Come early to have it to yourself, because tour buses arrive from Dublin by late morning.
The ride down into Laragh is very much the reward at the end of the Military Road. The upland road passes through wide, empty bog with brown heather, pale grass and views toward Lugnaquilla, the highest peak in Leinster. Then you descend through forestry plantations into oak and birch woods, with streams crossing under the road. The corners are medium and open, the surface mostly good, but sheep wander freely and mist can hide a bend. In winter, wet leaves and frost make the shady parts treacherous.
For rest, the cafes and pubs of Laragh offer proper Irish comfort: soup, brown bread, a hot whiskey if the weather is bad. In August it is busy, in November it is quiet, and in either case you can sit with a pot of tea and watch the rain cross the hills. The honest advice is to ride up in morning light, walk at Glendalough, and linger here until the crowds thin.