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Croquet

Here at Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club we have four world-class lawns and a very active group of players of all ages keeping the tradition going strong. Croquet is played year round although the main season runs from April – October with lots of keenly-contested competitions. Carrickmines hosts both the Dublin and Irish Championships during the Summer each year in addition to numerous other international competitions.

There are two versions of Croquet:

Golf Croquet: This hard-hitting, tactical game involves players attempting to get their ball through the first hoop whilst simultaneously preventing their opponent from doing the same. The hoop is only a few millimetres wider than the ball so this is no easy task! When the first person succeeds they score a point and everyone moves onto the next hoop. The first to score 7 hoops is the winner.

 

Association Croquet: The technically-challenging and strategic game of Association Croquet differs in that each player must get their balls through every hoop. A player takes one shot per turn, but can earn extra shots if they manage to run a hoop or hit another ball with that shot. This means a player can get through all the hoops in one turn if they’re skilled enough!

We invite all members to pick up a mallet and join us at any time

Quick Links

 

Help with booking

 

Croquet Championships of Ireland 2023 Entry From

The Championship of County Dublin 2023 Entry Form

Croquet Calendar [Download]

AC & GC Handicaps     GC Handicap Table

GC Ladder    AC Ladder

Senior Coaching

 

Carrickmines Croquet offers a range of croquet coaching classes for beginners and more experienced players. The coaching programmes are usually arranged in early spring and early autumn – for further details, contact the Croquet Director, Fiachra Carroll (fiachra.carroll@gmail.com)

Junior Coaching

 

A croquet coaching programme for Junior members starts in early spring each year. There is also Junior Coaching during school holidays. For more details, contact the Croquet Director, Fiachra Carroll (fiachra.carroll@gmail.com)

Recent Club & Croquet News & Events

  • Over five weeks in January and February, 25 valiant croquet players braved the cold weather to play in the Valentine’s tournament. There were a great many games played in both the ...

  • On November 5th & 6th, a mix of Irish and overseas GC players descended on Carrickmines C&LTC for the Carrickmines Autumn Golf Croquet Invitational sponsored by The Nationa...

  • The Croquet Committee is delighted to announce that Fiachra Carroll has agreed to take over as the Club’s next Croquet Director. Fiachra is 31, originally from Greystones and now l...

  • Would you like to get your name on this trophy?   The R J Leonard Novice Croquet Cup. Open to all Carrickmines members. This year it will be played as a Golf Croquet event. Su...

History of Croquet in Ireland

 

Few people realise the strength of the influence of Ireland on croquet during the early nineteenth Century. The origins of the game are obscure and it may well have had ancient beginnings, but it is clear that wherever it came from, it was developed in Ireland in the early part of the nineteenth Century.

 

The Field of 1858 mentions “meetings of the County Meath Croquet Cracks”. They were mostly young and met at each other’s houses: the reporter was George Annesley Pollok. Later that year he sent a copy of his rules and called them “The Rules of the Oatlands Club”. That is the first mention of a croquet club. The noted croquet historian Dr Prior, in his book of 1872, makes the categoric statement “One thing only is certain: it is from Ireland that croquet came to England and it was on the lawn of the late Lord Lonsdale that it was first played in this country”.

 

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