The Balgreen Club in Edinburgh hosted the first ever GC match between Scottish and Irish women croquet players. The Irish team have some experience of playing Spain in the last few years, but it was a first outing for the Scottish team. Rosemary Saunders Robertson, the Scottish captain and star player fell victim to covid just before the match and could not take part, seriously depleting the SCA firepower.   This resulted in a fairly easy win for the CAI players winning 57 of the 76 games played.

The South Leinster Open Championship was held on 20th August 2022 on the Newcastle North Lawn ( Nathaniel healy's ).  The final was between the block winners, Nathaniel Healy and Russell Harris and was won by Russell (+1) with an excellent, but unexpected, final turn.

The Irish Open Championships were played at Carrickmines C&LTC from 30th July until 6th August 2022.  The event was played in fine sunny weather with the occasional shower on some days.

The results of the Singles Championship of Ireland was:
Winner: Danny Johnston.
Runner up: Andy Johnston.

Click Header for full results.      Photos in sidebar

Ireland narrowly avoided relegation at the World Team Championships at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club by beating Sweden 4-2 to stay in Tier 2.1. Both teams had already lost to the stronger Welsh and Scottish teams and Ireland needed a good performance against the Scandinavians.

Day 1 of the 2022 Association Croquet Championships of Ireland. In the week that saw alchemic conjuror of síocháin (peace) Daithí Trimble, son of Bangor, go to his eternal reward - ní bhfeicfimid a leithéid arís, a coterie of all-star croquet players took to Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club at 9.30am.  Early doors and there were croissants, there was 'cha and coffee - all that was missing was the totemic presence of a Mark Stephens, a Danny Johnston, an Andy Johnston. Young Stephens is a highly esteemed banker. If it's a term loan you're after, look no further.

Anois, le cúnamh Dé(now with the help of God), tá seans mór againn ár bhféiniúlacht chultúratha a thaispeáint tríd meáin na crícígh. (We have a big chance to show our cultural self-identity through the medium of croquet). What is life but a series of disappointments punctuated by occasional rehabilitative visits to the croquet lawn?

The Croquet Championships of Ireland 2022 are only a few weeks away! They will be held from July 30th to August 6th. Entries need to be in by July 26th and will be accepted in receipt order so don't leave it too late!

You can apply using the online form at

https://forms.gle/ZKBxAbMCFPddxnS3A

There is a PDF version of the form at

https://www.croquetireland.com/cai/docs/ChampionshipsofIreland2022.pdf

Patricia Whitty (Rushbrooke), Celine Reilly (Herbert Park) and Jane Morrison (Balgreen, Edinburgh) represented Ireland at the first ever Women’s Golf Croquet European Championship, in Latvia.
Our three representatives did us proud. Click title to read Jane's report and photo.

Final Score  CAI 14 - CA 7

The annual match between Ireland and England for the McWeeney Trophy was played last weekend for the first time since 2019.

Ireland hosted the Association Croquet Home Internationals at Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club on June 11-12th 2022. Teams from Scotland, Wales and England visited to complete a full field fixture for the first time since 2019. Due to travel restrictions in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 fixture was not played and Ireland could not travel for the 2021 match in the UK.