Carrickmines had its own marathon this weekend with the Co. Dublin AC Croquet Championships.
There were 7 graded events with Carrickminers winning 5 of them, with one going overseas to a regular visitor and ex-pat Irishman David Beddy from the UK and one to Irish International Russell Harris, Newcastle Croquet Club, Co. Wicklow.

The Irish team of Nathaniel Healy, Russell Harris, Brian Havill, Alan Looney, Huw Spiers and Debutant Henry Bagwell travelled as holders to the new Scottish National Croquet centre at Balgreen in Edinburgh. However, Russell did a little unintended detour to say goodbye to the old venue at Meadows.

The CAI Association Croquet Silver Medal was held at Carrickmines on 25/26 April, featuring 8 of the top AC players in Ireland. The lawns were in excellent condition, the weather was warm and dry, and there was some top-hquality croquet with 9 triple peels.

The following team has been selected to represent the CAI in the annual match against the Scottish Croquet Association for the Appleton Trophy.

Alan Looney (Captain)
Henry Bagwell
Brian Havill
Russell Harris
Nathaniel Healy
Huw Spiers
The match will be played in Edinburgh on 9/10 May.

The Croquet Association of Ireland is seeking an administrative/development officer starting in 2026.
Applications are welcome until 10th April 2026.
We anticipate interviews will take place the weeks of April 13th and 20th, 2026.
For further information, please contact Celine Reilly, the chairperson of the CAI at chair@croquetireland.com

Read Job Description here:

Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club was the excellent venue for the 4th women’s GC match between Ireland and Spain. This time the Spanish sent a team to match the Irish players DGrades, after decisive victories for Spain in the first three encounters. The format was a mixture of doubles and singles and at the end of the first day the Spanish had a slight lead. This was reduced to one game by lunchtime on Sunday with Clair Whyms taking a game off Spain’s no 2 Luz Maria Prado to reduce the lead to 23-22.

Ireland retain the Trophy after a four day battle at Carrickmines. 

 Matches between Ireland and USA began in the 1990s but have lapsed of late, since USA became a Tier 1 nation with a place in the McRobertson Shield, so this year's match was the first since 2011. A new format was agreed, whereby both AC and GC would be played and each side looked to have equal participation of genders.  

An Irish team, consisting of Jane Morrison, Simon Williams, Charlie von Schmieder (Captain) and Sandy Greig played in the Golf Croquet Home Internationals in Edinburgh. The team took a very creditable second place , with England winning.

The photo shows the team relaxing after their exertions!

CAI Council members May 2024/5

Celine Reilly ( Carrickmines) Chair, Governance, Funding chair@croquetireland.com
Huw Spiers (Carrickmines) Honorary Treasurer treasurer@croquetireland,com
Alan Looney (Carrickmines) Honorary Secretary secretary@croquetireland.com

A strong Irish team travelled to the Devonshire coast to compete in the 2025 AC Home Internationals held at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club. Arriving on Friday evening, the lawns were in great condition and promised a good challenge for the weekend even allowing for rain predicted for the following morning.