About our club

Who we are

South East Community Croquet (SECC) is an unincorporated community club run entirely by local volunteers in Co. Waterford, Ireland. We were founded in 2025 with one straightforward aim: to promote croquet and make the game genuinely accessible to everyone. We are not a private members' club, we do not charge a subscription, and there is no waiting list. If you want to play, there is a place for you.

We run groups in three villages along the coast — Dunmore East, which is up and running, and Passage East and Cheekpoint, which are forming now. Sessions are free, mallets and balls are provided, and somebody will always show a newcomer the basics.

What we stand for

All abilities, genuinely. Croquet is one of the very few games where anyone can compete as an equal. Skill, patience and tactics beat strength and reach every time, which means a complete beginner and a seasoned player can have a real match on the same lawn. That is the whole reason we chose this game for a community club.

Free, and staying free. Sessions cost nothing to attend and equipment is provided. We would rather someone turned up on a whim than talked themselves out of it over a membership fee.

Sociable first. It is as much about the chat and the company as the competition. Come for the croquet, stay for the craic. For a lot of our members the lawn is simply a good excuse to spend an afternoon outdoors with neighbours.

Adults for now. Our current sessions are for over 18s. We intend to expand to include children in the future, and we will say so clearly on this site when we do.

A game with local roots

Croquet has a reputation for being both English and posh. It is neither. The modern game was developed in Ireland and played here for at least twenty years before it ever reached England, and its ancestor was played by French peasants in the 14th century, who bent hoops from willow and swung a shepherd's crook for a mallet.

The connection to Dunmore East is older than the club. The croquet lawn in Dunmore East Park was laid in 1880. In 1924 Lord Waterford signed the park over to a trust, specifying that the grounds be used solely for croquet and tennis. A century later we are picking that thread back up, with the kind support of the Dunmore East Woods & Park Trust.

The management committee

SECC is run by a small committee of local volunteers:

• Michael Cox — Chairperson & Founder
• Mary Dorgan — Secretary
• Eddie Deevy — Treasurer

Michael handles enquiries and bookings personally. If you contact the club, you will be talking to a person, not a system.