Laragh ( – meaning "the site, or ruins, of a building") is a small village in County Wicklow,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies at the junction of three roads (the R115, R755, and R756) through the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. ...

and is primarily known for its proximity to the

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

settlement of

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...

. Sally Gap and the Glenmacnass Waterfall are to the north, to the west is Glendalough and the

Wicklow Gap Wicklow Gap () is one of the highest Irish mountain passes served by an asphalted road. It is located in County Wicklow, Ireland. Geography The pass is opened between Tonelagee (Nort east) and Turlough Hill / Camaderry (South). It connects ...

, and to the south is the

Glenmalure Glenmalure () is a 20-kilometre long U-shaped glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Glenmalure is an important base for climbing in the Wicklow mountains, and particularly accessing the massif of Lugnaquilla, and contains one of ...

Valley. The area is wooded, with the hills and mountains rising directly from the valley, and hill walkers,

hikers Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Hist ...

, and other

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

s sometimes use the village – given its closeness to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

– as their centre for recreational activities in the mountains. About 5 km from the village, on the Rathdrum road, the

Clara Lara FunPark Clara Lara FunPark is an outdoor adventure and water park in County Wicklow, Ireland. History The park was opened by Peter Morphew in 1983, under the name "Clara-Lara Trout Farm and Funpark". It is located in the Vale of Clara; it takes i ...

covers an area of some 40 ha. Birdwatchers come here to look for the great spotted woodpecker, Ireland's newest species, which breeds in the area. Laragh is also sometimes (including on Sunday mornings and lunchtime) used as a meeting and stop-off point for motorcyclists and cyclists following a run over "The Gap" ( the R756) before they head on to Rathdrum. "Laragh" is the name of a fictional sheep station in Western Australia run by the Regan family in

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

's novel ''

Beyond the Black Stump ''Beyond the Black Stump'' is a novel by British author Nevil Shute. It was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd, in 1956. Plot summary The story concerns a young American geologist, Stanton Laird, working in the Australian outb ...

''.

References

External links

Laragh Badminton Club

Wicklow Way
{{County Wicklow Towns and villages in County Wicklow

See also

References

External links