Eras
The history of handball split into eras, one set for the United States and one for Ireland. Each era page gives the argument for the era, the dated moments with their sources, and what the sources do not show.
United States
- Racket courts and saloon alleys: New York before the clubs (1860s-1887) 1860-1887 · 9 moments
Before any club or printed code, American handball was a money game played in a handful of New York racket courts and saloon alleys (McQuade's and Regan's on Madison Street, Sweeny's at 159 East 35th), by Irish-born professionals... - Casey's court, the Brooklyn Handball Club and The Sun's rules (1887-1896) 1887-1896 · 11 moments
For nine years the American game had a capital (297 Degraw Street, Brooklyn), a champion (Phil Casey, 'champion of the world' after beating Lawlor in 1887), a club (the Brooklyn Handball Club, Casey president, reorganized 1892)... - The A.A.U. takes the amateur game; the professionals keep the 'world' title (1896-1919) 1896-1919 · 8 moments
From November 1896 the A.A.U. ran an annual amateur championship (first at Jersey City, 7-8 Jan 1897, won by Mike Egan) under rules it first adopted from the Sun and then revised ('Revised Handball Rules ... for the Government of... - One-wall rises in New York (1915-1922) 1915-1922 · 6 moments
Between the first outdoor single-wall tournament match found (Van Kelton Field, next to the West Side Y.M.C.A., April 1915) and the A.A.U.'s adoption of one-wall rules on 20 November 1922, the one-wall game acquired a name... - The A.A.U. rule codes: four-wall, one-wall, hardball (1920-1950) 1920-1950 · 12 moments
From the 35-rule text in force on 1 January 1920 to the 1950 championships, the A.A.U. was the publisher of American handball's rules: a four-wall code revised in 1922 (court 24 x 50 ft becomes 24 x 48 ft; 'covered ball'... - The USHA, the common rules and the end of A.A.U. handball (1951-1978) 1951-1978 · 12 moments
The United States Handball Association's own champions list begins in 1951 (four-wall and three-wall, Chicago and Detroit) and its one-wall national in 1959; its magazine (Ace, then Handball from 1971) dates itself to 1951 and... - USHA alone: one body, three codes, online rules (1978-) from 1978 · 11 moments
With the A.A.U. gone, the USHA governs four-wall, three-wall and one-wall under one rulebook family, publishes the rules on the web ('as of January 26, 2025', with board-minute changes marked in green), keeps a continuous... - Wallball organizes: the big ball finds its bodies (1996-) from 1996 · 7 moments
The New York park game with the big blue ball acquired institutions late: the St. Albans Handball Association (1996) and its King of the Courts (1998-), the United States Wall Ball Association (2010) with its own rules online...
Ireland
- The alley game before the Association (-1884) by 1884 · 4 moments
Irish handball before the GAA is, in this record, a game seen from abroad: the Irish-born professionals of New York (Casey, Dunne, Courtney, Lawlor), the 60 x 27 ft court at Oamaru and a man the Auckland Star called some years... - The GAA's rules and the Atlantic matches (1884-1923) 1884-1923 · 11 moments
From the GAA's founding (handball among its sports) to the first GAA-sponsored championships in 1923, the Irish game had a 28-rule code ('the rules of the Gaelic Athletic Association of Ireland': 60-ft floor, short line between... - The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008) 1924-2008 · 14 moments
The Irish Handball Council (the GAA page's name; the 'Irish Amateur Handball Association' of other accounts, H-102) was established in 1924 and the All-Ireland senior championships in hardball and softball run from 1925; the roll... - GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-) from 2009 · 8 moments
GAA Handball (the name from about 2009, H-103; headquartered at the National Handball Centre, Croke Park) governs four codes and, since February 2025, prints them in one book: 60x30 softball and hardball (the 1903 lineage)...