"To love a woman, you've got to know - how the rich die poor and the strong grow weak, Slave to love." Bryan Ferry's lyrics floated in the Budley air nearest young Mark Stephens' Bluetooth headset. He had love on his mind. Not of the unrequited type but one borne of mutuality - of purity of strike and swooshing of hoop. The young malletman (perhaps the finest hoopman to have ever excelled at Technical Drawing in Cabra-on-Sea during a brief pupil exchange with a Jose Maria Escriva academy of brown scapular woolmen) undertook his day three task with relish.

An exhortation unto muintir na hÉireann (the people of Ireland) resulted in a trio of young hotshots presenting their credentials to represent our nation in the 2022 ERC European Golf Croquet Championship. Having received the sporting imprimatur from the CAI's cognoscenti, Mssrs Murphy, O'Donoghue and Stephens stood to attention as the government Learjet taxi'd up at Baldonnell to whisk them to Budley. A teary Alan Looney invoked Big Jack from the tarmac: "Téigh agus buaigh é" (go and compete).

They were sent like a quasi-active service unit to Blighty. Not for them Marxist guff drenched in fertiliser, nitroglycerine, sugar and ball-bearings but a compassionate croquet philosophy intent on annexing silverware in a European Championship field of pure pedigree. Talk of a sea border had been abandoned back at Larne together with the protocol houha and confiscated cans of McEwan's lager.

CAI VICTORY IN THE APPLETON

As Irish Croquet emerges from the pandemic, we can begin by reporting our first representative success, with the CAI team emerging as winners of the Appleton Trophy after a close match in Edinburgh over the SCA.

In warm and sunny conditions the Irish team (Simon Williams, Nathaniel Healy, Jane Morrison, Fiachra Carroll and Alan Looney) battled hard on unfamiliar lawns at The Meadows club. At close of play on Saturday there was nothing separating the teams at 6 all but a surge on Sunday morning

The team selected to represent CAI in the annual match against SCA, to be played in Edinburgh on 14/15 May is 

Simon Williams
Nathaniel Healy (C)
Jane Morrison
Fiachra Carroll
Alan Looney
AN Other. 

The team selected to represent Ireland in the Home Internationals to be played at Carrickmines on 11/12 June 2022 is

Danny Johnston (C)
Simon Williams
Patsy FitzGerald
Sandy Greig 
Nathaniel Healy 
Russell Harris (Reserve). 

The Gymnastic Cup Competition will be held on Sunday & Monday 1st & 2nd of May in Carrickmines C&LTC.  This is an open handicap AC event and play will begin at 9.30 each day.

See entry details here 

You are invited to play in the Easter Open 2022 to be hosted by Carrickmines C&LTC on 17th and 18th April 2022. 

The first day will be Golf Croquet and the second will be Association Croquet. Entries by 13th April please.

Full information can be found in this document

The Entry Forms for the Dublin Open Championships  on 3rd - 6th June and the Irish Open Championships on 30th July -6th August 2022 are available through the links on the left sidebar.

Online entry for Dublin OC at https://forms.gle/VXY8WYa7Si7VtCxV6

Dear Croquet Friends,
It is my pleasure to announce the annual Baltic Open GC event that takes place, as always the 10 previous years, on the first full weekend of September. Please see the attached document, where you also can see the Board of Honours of the previous tournaments.
Looking forward to new amazing croquet encounters this year,
Best regards, Roberts Stafecki

Baltic Open Announcement