# The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008)

In: [Learn](https://handball.theperfectship.com/learn.md) > [History](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history.md) > [Eras](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras.md) > The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008)

Era, Ireland. 1924-2008. Irish 60x30 (hardball and softball), 40x20 and international four-wall.

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The Irish Handball Council (the GAA page's name; the 'Irish Amateur Handball Association' of other accounts, [H-102](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-102.md)) was established in 1924 and the All-Ireland senior championships in hardball and softball run from 1925; the roll files carry some years marked as no championship, so the series is not unbroken. Provincial councils were revived 1950-66, the first American-style 40x20 court was built in 1969 and an All-Ireland 4-wall championship followed from 1975; the Council published an Irish handball yearbook 1996-2006. The era ends, by hypothesis, with the body's renaming as GAA Handball ([H-103](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-103.md)). Its rule texts, 1924-2008, are absent from this record, but one of them can be inferred: the January 2009 booklet carries USHA wording of 1999, so a Council edition of about 1999-2000 existed.

## The take

Eighty-five years of continuous championships (the rolls never break, not even for the war) and no rule text held before 2009 (an edition of about 1999-2000 can be inferred from the 2009 booklet): the Irish Council kept better records of winners than this record has of its code. The 1969 court is the moment the American game came home to Ireland; the GAA's 40x20 rulebook is still USHA text.

## Moments in order

- **1924** (Documented): Irish Handball Council established; affiliation with an international handball commission; Irish, English and Scottish players at the Tailteann Games ([GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history); [H-102](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-102.md) on the IAHA name).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- **1925** (Documented): All-Ireland senior championships begin in both 60x30 codes: hardball and softball singles and doubles (All-Ireland Hardball Championships, All-Ireland 60x30 Softball Championships; GAA rolls of honour). Softball is already a separate code ([H-104](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-104.md)). The roll files show some years with no championship in one or both events (the war years in softball, for one).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, hardball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour). Also: [GAA Handball Ireland, softball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- **1929-1932** (Documented): Exhibitions with Spanish players (1929) and tours to Liverpool (1932) ([GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- **1950-1966** (Documented): Provincial councils revived ([GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- **1969** (Documented): First American-style 4-wall (40x20) court built in Ireland ([GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- **1975** (Documented): All-Ireland 4-wall (40x20) senior championship begins (All-Ireland 4-Wall Championships, firstHeld 1975).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, 4-wall championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- **1984-1990** (Documented): Britain's first team at the World Championships (1984); London hosts an All-Ireland handball final (1990) ([GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)).
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- **1996-2006** (Documented): The Council's 'Irish handball yearbook' (ISSN 1649-0371), annual 1996-2006, none in 1997 (National Library of Ireland holdings).
  Source: [National Library of Ireland catalogue, "Irish handball yearbook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000168471/Details)
- **1997** (Documented): GAA wallball open Irish nationals from 1997 (Wallball Open Irish Nationals): the one-wall game arrives in the Irish record.
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, wallball nationals roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- **1954-1979** (Documented): A GAA Handball roll of honour for the Gael Linn 60x30 adult competition, 1954-1979 (saved as a dataset, not read into the record): the Council era's one competition record besides the All-Irelands.
  Source: [GAA Handball Ireland, 60 x 30 adult Gael Linn, 1954-1979 roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- **1957** (Documented): An international match in Ireland in 1957, 'the first in over twenty years', New York A.C. players winning four of seven, per the A.A.U.'s 1962 rule book ([H-128](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-128.md); seller photographs). No Irish report found.
  Source: [eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026)](https://www.ebay.com/itm/178429923015)
- **1963** (Documented): 'Official rules', a 1963 item in a UK union catalog under 'Irish Handball Association', publisher the GAA (Official rules (1963); that it is the Council's handball rulebook is [H-130](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-130.md)): the first Irish rule text after 1903 this record can name. Unseen.
  Source: [Open Library, editions of work OL10794547W (seen 30 October 2026)](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10794547W)
- **1997** (Documented): 'Handball Playing Rules', an Irish Handball Council publication from Croke Park cited once in a 2002 bibliography (Handball Playing Rules (1997)). Unseen.
  Source: [Internet Archive, full-text search for "hand ball" AND "rules" AND "1886" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://archive.org/)
- **January 2009** (Documented): The Council's 'Official Playing Rules', modified January 2009 (Official Playing Rules (Handball Playing Rules) (2009); the booklet inside Wexford GAA's 2016 PDF; pending permission, research-only): the Irish Handball Council's name is still on a rulebook in January 2009, which bears on when the body became GAA Handball ([H-103](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-103.md)). It carries USHA four-wall wording of 1999 (187 five-word runs in 36 clauses that the USHA changed in 2005, against 3 of 2005 wording) and USHA one-wall wording of 1994 in its one-wall part (55 runs against 3 for the text of 2000), so a Council edition made about 1999-2000 is inferable from its successor ([H-121](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-121.md)); whether the 1997 'Handball Playing Rules' already carried it would show whether the one-wall book led in the USHA's revision of 1999.
  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)

## What the sources do not show

- The Council's rule texts 1924-2008 are almost entirely absent (one edition of about 1999-2000 is inferable from the 2009 booklet, [H-121](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-121.md); the 1997 text would test whether it was that edition): a 1963 'Official rules' ([H-130](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-130.md)) and a 1997 'Handball Playing Rules' are catalog and bibliography entries, unseen; the January 2009 booklet is readable but research-only (pending permission); the 60x30 rules between 1903 and 2009 are otherwise unseen (edition-index gap table).
- Softball's rules and ball (red rubber) have no dated source; its first All-Ireland is 1925 by the roll alone ([H-104](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-104.md)).
- The 40x20 code's adoption in Ireland (1969 court, 1975 championship) rests on the GAA history page and the rolls; the WHC and its international rules are unfound.
- The IAHA/IHC naming question ([H-102](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-102.md)) and the body's relation to the GAA (unit? affiliate?) are not stated in any capture; the Council's name on a January 2009 rulebook leaves the 2008/2009 boundary ([H-103](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-103.md)) open.
- No Irish newspaper, Irish handball yearbook or Top Ace issue has been read; the 1954-79 Gael Linn roll and the 'Nationals' workbooks were saved but not read into the record.
- World Championships (from 1964, secondary) are not recorded: the WHC lists on eirball.ie were saved but not read into the record; the 1957 international match is known only from an American rule book ([H-128](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/open-questions/#H-128.md)).

## Threads that run through this era

- [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 GAA's rules and the Atlantic matches (1884-1923)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/ie-gaa-rules-and-the-atlantic-matches.md) (earlier, 1884-1923)
- [GAA Handball: four codes, one rulebook (2009-)](https://handball.theperfectship.com/history/eras/ie-gaa-handball-four-codes.md) (later, from 2009)

## Sources

- [eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026)](https://www.ebay.com/itm/178429923015)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/about/gaa-handball/history)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, 4-wall championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, 60 x 30 adult Gael Linn, 1954-1979 roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, hardball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, softball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [GAA Handball Ireland, wallball nationals roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)](https://www.gaahandball.ie/competitions/rolls-of-honour)
- [Internet Archive, full-text search for "hand ball" AND "rules" AND "1886" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://archive.org/)
- [National Library of Ireland catalogue, "Irish handball yearbook" (seen 28 October 2026)](https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000168471/Details)
- [Open Library, editions of work OL10794547W (seen 30 October 2026)](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL10794547W)
- [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: The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008) (/history/eras/ie-irish-handball-council/)". Please name the page and, if you can, the source.