# GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-)

In: [Learn](https://handball.theperfectship.com/learn.md) > [History](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history.md) > [Eras](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras.md) > GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-)

Era, Ireland. from 2009. One-wall (small and big ball), Irish 60x30 (hardball and softball), 40x20 and international four-wall.

Status: Machine-reviewed. A person has not yet read this page through.

GAA Handball (the name from about 2009, [H-103](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-103.md); 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), International 4-Wall (40x20) (USHA text, [H-24](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-24.md)) and Wallball (20 x 34 ft; from 2019 a separate 1-wall document 'consistent with' the USHA's, [H-21](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-21.md); folded into the combined book in 2025, [H-22](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-22.md)). The Congress of 9 February 2025 is the current adoption date, with a re-laid-out June 2026 version.

## The take

Ireland now governs four codes from one book and wrote two of them from American text. The 1903 lineage (60x30) and the USHA lineage (40x20, wallball) meet in the same PDF: the family tree the site wants to draw has its merge here.

## Moments in order

- **2007-2011** (Documented): 'Top ace: Irish handball yearbook' (subtitles include 'Official GAA handball magazine'), NLI holds nos. 1-4, 2007-2011.
  Source: [National Library of Ireland catalogue, "Top ace" (Irish handball yearbook) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000298401/Details)
- **August 2016** (Documented): Wexford GAA's 'Playing Rules' PDF ([Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing Rules" PDF (uploaded August 2016) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Playing-Rules.pdf)): the earliest GAA Handball rulebook held; text not yet readable.
  Source: [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing Rules" PDF (uploaded August 2016) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Playing-Rules.pdf)
- **2016** (Documented): GAA wallball senior championship begins (Wallball Senior Championships, firstHeld 2016).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, wallball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- **January 2019** (Documented): The GAA's one-wall (Wallball) playing rules as of January 2019 (Official Irish 1-Wall (Wallball) Playing Rules - As of January 2019 (2019)): 20 x 34 ft court, 16-ft wall, ball 1 7/8 in and 61 g; the book describes itself as consistent with the USHA's, and 84.7% of its five-word runs (6,251 of 7,380) are in the USHA one-wall text of 2014-01 and none of the 229 runs new in the USHA's revision of 27 January 2019, so it followed the earlier text; 352 runs are Irish Handball Council wording of 2009, and 19 clauses (the Irish codes, age grades and match format) are the GAA's own ([H-21](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-21.md) supported; the borrowing edge is machine-reviewed).
  Source: [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-Rules-1-wall.pdf)
- **March 2020** (Documented): The GAA's four-wall and 60x30 playing rules as of March 2020 (Official Irish 4-Wall & 60x30 Playing Rules (2020), Official Irish 4-Wall & 60x30 Playing Rules (2020), Official Irish 4-Wall & 60x30 Playing Rules (2020)): the one-wall rules are said to be available separately; the book carries competition-regulation text revised in 2016. Its USHA wording came directly from the USHA four-wall text of 2015-17 (891 five-word runs in 74 clauses that the 1-wall document does not carry), and its wording carried over from the GAA's own 1-wall document is smaller (466 runs in 59 clauses) ([H-24](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-24.md) supported; machine-reviewed).
  Source: [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing rules: 60x30 softball, 40x20, 4-wall" (updated March 2020) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-rules-60x30-softball-40x20-4-wall-updated-March-2020.pdf)
- **4 February 2024** (Documented): The GAA's official four-wall and 60x30 playing rules as of 4 February 2024 (GAA Handball - Official 4-Wall & 60x30 Playing Rules (2024) etc.); Rule 1.1 lists the codes as four-wall, one-wall, and 60x30 in its softball and hardball forms.
  Source: [Wexford GAA Handball, "4-Wall Softball Hardball Playing Rules" (4 February 2024) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/4-Wall-Softball-Hardball-Playing-Rules-4-2-24.pdf)
- **9 February 2025** (Documented): Congress adopts the combined playing rules covering four-wall, Wallball, and 60x30 softball and hardball (Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025), Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025), Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025), Official Irish 4-Wall, Softball, Hardball & Wallball Playing Rules (2025)): the first book with the Wallball court; the hardball ball is specified as goatskin. This is the only Irish adoption act in the record: the 2019 1-wall document, the 2020 and 2024 books and the Council's 2009 rules carry as-of dates and no meeting.
  Source: [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball (Wexford GAA copy), file dated 29 May 2025 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Playing-Rules-4-Wall-Wallball-60x30-Softball-Hardball-2025.pdf)
- **June 2026** (Documented): A re-laid-out version of the 9 Feb 2025 rules (the four 2026-06 editions: GAA Handball Playing Rules (2025), GAA Handball Playing Rules (2025), GAA Handball Playing Rules (2025), GAA Handball Playing Rules (2025)): Rule 1.1 lists four-wall, Wallball, and 60x30, (an eye-guard technical is in the 2025 text too, so none is shown to be added; the re-lay-out is not shown to change the rules); competition regulations revised to 12 June 2026.
  Source: [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball, file dated 25 June 2026 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/governance/playing-rules)

## What the sources do not show

- The 2009 renaming ([H-103](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-103.md)) and GAA Handball's constitutional relation to the GAA: no dated statement held.
- GAA Handball rulebooks 2009-2015 and the text of the 2016 PDF (unreadable with stdlib tools).
- GAA rights are pending: the texts are research-only and untranscribed; no GAA edition is crosswalked except the 1903 hardball text.
- The 'International 4-Wall Playing Rules' that the GAA book refers to are unfound (the cover names no issuer; the WHC is an inference).
- World Championships and WWBA records: not parsed or not found.

## Threads that run through this era

- [One-wall becomes its own game](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/one-wall-becomes-its-own-game.md)
- [The ball: from 'about two inches' to 1 7/8 in and 61 grams](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-ball.md)
- [The court shrinks: 60 x 30 in Ireland, 65 x 24 to 20 x 40 in America](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-court-shrinks.md)
- [The Irish game abroad and at home](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/the-irish-game-abroad-and-at-home.md)
- [Who writes the rules: court keeper, newspaper, federation, board](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/threads/who-writes-the-rules.md)

## Neighboring eras in Ireland

- [The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/ie-irish-handball-council.md) (earlier, 1924-2008)

## Sources

- [GAA Handball Ireland, wallball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-Rules-1-wall.pdf)
- [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball (Wexford GAA copy), file dated 29 May 2025 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Playing-Rules-4-Wall-Wallball-60x30-Softball-Hardball-2025.pdf)
- [GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball, file dated 25 June 2026 (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/governance/playing-rules)
- [National Library of Ireland catalogue, "Top ace" (Irish handball yearbook) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000298401/Details)
- [Wexford GAA Handball, "4-Wall Softball Hardball Playing Rules" (4 February 2024) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/4-Wall-Softball-Hardball-Playing-Rules-4-2-24.pdf)
- [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing rules: 60x30 softball, 40x20, 4-wall" (updated March 2020) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Playing-rules-60x30-softball-40x20-4-wall-updated-March-2020.pdf)
- [Wexford GAA Handball, "Playing Rules" PDF (uploaded August 2016) (seen 28 October 2026)](https://wexfordgaahandball.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Playing-Rules.pdf)

## Corrections

Found a mistake, or a source we missed? Email perfectshipllc@gmail.com with the subject "History correction: GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-) (/history/eras/ie-gaa-handball-four-codes/)". Please name the page and, if you can, the source.