In royal company with road bowling's King and Queen of the Roads

The crowd in Ballincurrig, Co Cork - mobilised by an act of intent - simultaneously gather in the middle of the road and spread to the sides, as if starlings in murmuration. Think Tour de France meets the final hole of The Open.

MARKING THE SPOT: Further down again, another acts as an aiming post, holding a flag high in the air like a cavalry officer calling his horsemen to the front.

The things people get up to. Here’s a little thought experiment for you. Close your eyes. Picture yourself on a country road, a boreen, the kind that has countless twists and turns. An uneven surface flanked by trees shedding their first coat of autumn leaves. There are no cars on this road. Not a one. But there are many, many people. Young and old. 

And in the middle of this road is a person, holding in their hand what appears to be a spherical stone. This person can be male or female, it matters not. They toss the stone - about the size and weight of a paperweight - from hand to hand, while undergoing a deep visualisation that seems to remove them completely from their boisterous surroundings. This person is surrounded by a team of people, each one of them tasked with a job.