In the absence of glitz, champagne and socialites, Su Stenhouse is quick to defend the glamour stakes of an international croquet match. "I'm wearing silk underwear," she boasts as the thockthock of mallets on balls carries across the manicured lawns of Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin's leafy suburbs.
As a member of the Scottish team, she believes there aren't that many women playing competitively "because we have better things to do than practise croquet".
At the other end of the pitch, so to speak, Patsy FitzGerald, mural artist and farmer from Kells, Co Meath, is deep in play. "You have to be quite perfect," he tells us, " - tactically good. You must play each shot as correctly as you can. It takes a lot of concentration and keeping the whole thing under control." For curious art lovers, his work is on view in places such as the Curragh Racecourse Turf Club and in Ashford Castle in Cong, Co Mayo.
Evan Newell, another Meath man and captain of the Irish croquet team, says he's playing badly. Ronan McInerney from Leopardstown is frowning as well. His brother, Alan McInerney, a former model, is also trying to beat the Scots. Forget Alice in Wonderland and all those other misconceptions about croquet, they say. This is a serious sport. Ireland wins in the end.