Handball

Thread

The Irish game abroad and at home

1867-2019 · American four-wall, One-wall (small and big ball), Irish 60x30 (hardball and softball), 40x20 and international four-wall

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The Irish game is the parent of every code in this project, and for its first sixty years in the record this record sees it only from abroad: a Chicago Fenian paper urging hand-ball clubs (1867), alleys built by emigrants in New Zealand (a 60 x 27 ft court at Oamaru, 1880; a man the Auckland Star calls once the champion of the south of Ireland winning a cup at Auckland, 1882), and the Irish-born professionals of New York, whose matches against men from Dublin, Tralee, Kanturk, Limerick and Mayo (Casey v Lawlor at Cork and Brooklyn, 1887; Carney v Fitzgerald, 1897; Egan v Twohill, 1903; Bowles v Kelly, 1909) were the only place the two codes met, and met by alternating balls. At home the record is institutional and thin: the GAA counts handball among its sports from 1884, orders county championships in 1914, runs championships from 1923, and the Irish Handball Council keeps All-Ireland rolls from 1925. Then the traffic reverses: the American 40x20 court arrives in 1969, the one-wall game in 1997, a world wallball body is formed in Dublin in 2012, and from 2019 GAA Handball prints American (USHA) text in its own rulebook.

The take

Handball crossed the Atlantic twice. The Irish alley went west with the emigrants and came back as a 40 x 20 box and a one-wall court; this record can show the second crossing in rulebooks and the first only in American and colonial newspapers. Until an Irish newspaper run, the GAA archive or an Irish-language source is read, the home game between 1884 and 1963 is a list of winners and a page on a website.

Moments in order

26 moments. Each shows its status in words and its source.

  1. by 1884 · Documented

    GAA Handball's own history page gives the game's antiquity in Ireland (a 1527 Galway statute against ball games at the town walls; a Ballinrobe court of 1776). No Irish primary source for any of it has been read.

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)

  2. 1867 · Documented

    The game travels with the emigrants: a Chicago Fenian paper urges young Irishmen to form hand-ball and hurly clubs; a Christmas Day alley game is announced at Memphis.

    Source: The Irish Republic (Chicago), 5 October 1867, p. 13. Also: Public Ledger (Memphis), 23 December 1867, p. 3

  3. 1880-1883 · Documented

    New Zealand: the first Auckland court and a 60 x 27 ft court at the Shamrock Hotel, Oamaru (1880); P. Hogan, whom the Auckland Star calls once the champion of the south of Ireland, wins the Gleeson cup at Auckland (1882) and loses to McAuliffe of Timaru (1883); the Hibernian court at Invercargill burns (1882). The Irish long court transplanted.

    Source: North Otago Times, 17 November 1880 (Papers Past). Also: Auckland Star, 21 March 1882 (Papers Past); Evening Post, 31 May 1883, "Telegrams" (Papers Past); Otago Daily Times, 6 January 1882, "The Invercargill Fire" (Papers Past)

  4. 1884 · Documented

    The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded with handball among the sports it promotes (secondary: GAA Handball's history page). The highlight for this moment lives in The GAA's rules and the Atlantic matches (1884-1923).

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)

  5. 29 November 1887 · Documented

    Phil Casey's court in Brooklyn opens with Casey against Lawlor of Dublin, per the Sun's anniversary note of 1890 ('Three years ago to-day').

    Source: The Sun (New York), 29 November 1890, p. 4

  6. 4 August 1887 to 29 November 1887 · Documented · A turning point

    The first international match: ten games at the Grattan Street racquet court, Cork (Lawlor 6, Casey 4, play interrupted by a gallery panic), finished at the Brooklyn Handball Club's Degraw Street court in November, Casey winning the first seven of the New York games and the title; the sides alternated the large American and small Irish balls because they could not agree on one (H-87).

    Source: The Sun (New York), 5 August 1887, p. 3. Also: The Sun (New York), 30 November 1887, p. 3

  7. 21 April 1888 · Documented

    J. A. Keenan, 'champion handball player of Australia', challenges Casey for the championship of the world: the diaspora's third continent.

    Source: Evening Post, 28 May 1888, "Additional Mail News" (Papers Past)

  8. 12 July 1890 to 19 August 1890 · Documented

    Casey, McQuade, Dunne and others sail for an exhibition tour of Ireland (July-September 1890).

    Source: The Evening World (New York), 12 July 1890, p. 1

  9. 1895-1896 · Documented

    A Cork paper proposes a conference of handball lovers 'throughout the world' to draw up a code; Casey and Dunne challenge Fitzgerald, the Irish champion, to a home-and-home doubles match (Brooklyn, then Tralee); the Sun calls Fitzgerald a convert to its rules and expects a Cork convention of July 1896 to adopt them. Whether it met is H-92.

    Source: The Sun (New York), 20 August 1895, p. 5. Also: The Sun (New York), 23 September 1895, p. 5; The Sun (New York), 27 January 1896, p. 9; The Sun (New York), 5 April 1896, p. 30

  10. 4 July 1897 · Documented

    Carney of Chicago (born Swinford, Mayo) beats Fitzgerald of Tralee at Casey's court for the 'world's championship'; the papers explain the difference to their readers: the Irish court is open at the back, the American court has a solid back wall.

    Source: Worcester Morning Daily Spy (Worcester), 5 July 1897, p. 5

  11. 1900-1904 · Documented

    Irish challengers in American courts: Fitzgerald and Keegan beat Carney at Chicago (1900); Corby of Tralee and Lawlor beat Egan and Scott at Greenpoint (1900); Oliver Drew, from Ireland, beats Egan in the first leg of a world-title series (1902); Timothy Twohill of Kanturk loses to Egan at Jersey City (1903). Egan himself, the amateur champion of 1897, was born in County Galway (1904 biography).

    Source: New-York Tribune (New York), 16 January 1900, p. 6. Also: The Jersey City News (Jersey City), 26 March 1900, p. 3; Waterbury Democrat (Waterbury), 8 May 1902, p. 7; The Minneapolis Journal (Minneapolis), 26 May 1903, p. 18; The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City), 20 March 1904, p. 6

  12. 6 June 1906 · Documented

    James Dunne, Brooklyn's Superintendent of Sewers and Casey's old partner, sails with his son to play handball in Ireland and unveil a monument at Cork.

    Source: The Sun (New York), 6 June 1906, p. 8

  13. 11 July 1909 · Documented

    John J. Bowles of Limerick and James Kelly of Brooklyn play for the 'International Handball Championship of the World', best of fifteen games of 21 aces: the last match in the facts billed as Ireland against America.

    Source: The Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram (Richmond), 15 January 1909, p. 2

  14. 1912-1916 · Documented

    The game is still 'Irish' to American readers: the San Francisco Call has 'the old Irish game' coming back on McHugh's court in the Mission (1912); 4,000 New York schoolboys enter a Public Schools tournament in 'the famous Irish game' (1916).

    Source: The San Francisco Call (San Francisco), 25 February 1912, p. 38. Also: The Evening World (New York), 7 February 1916, p. 10

  15. 16 May 1914 · Documented

    At home: the GAA congress instructs every county committee to start a handball championship, a decision this record knows from a Chicago reprint. The only Irish governance fact between 1884 and 1923.

    Source: The Chicago Citizen (Chicago), 16 May 1914, p. 1

  16. 14 June 1922 · Documented

    Joe Heaney and Bill Bryan, Brooklyn doubles claimants of the world title, are named as the likely American team for the Irish games in Dublin.

    Source: The New York Herald (New York), 14 June 1922, p. 14

  17. 1923 · Documented

    The first GAA-sponsored championships (GAA Handball's page); the same year Spalding's guide prints the Irish hard-ball rules for American readers (Gaelic Rules (1903), the 28-rule code dated 1884-1903, H-13) and the A.A.U. awards a hard-ball national for 1924 beside four-wall and one-wall: the Irish code as an American championship event.

    Source: The Seattle Star (Seattle), 20 November 1923, p. 13. Also: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026); Robert L. Ripley (ed.), Spalding's Official Handball Guide (1923); Michael Egan, Handball and How to Play It (1903), p. 33

  18. 1924-1925 · Documented

    The Irish Handball Council is established (1924; the body's exact name is H-102) and All-Ireland senior championships run from 1925 in both 60x30 codes, hardball and softball (H-104). The highlights for these moments live in The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008).

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026). Also: GAA Handball Ireland, hardball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026); GAA Handball Ireland, softball championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)

  19. 1929-1932 · Documented

    Exhibitions with Spanish players (1929) and a tour to Liverpool (1932), per GAA Handball's page: the home game looking outward.

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)

  20. 1954-1979 · Documented

    A GAA Handball roll of honour for the Gael Linn 60x30 adult competition, 1954-1979, is saved but not read into the record: the only Irish competition record between the All-Ireland rolls and the yearbooks.

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, 60 x 30 adult Gael Linn, 1954-1979 roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)

  21. 1957 · Documented

    The A.A.U.'s 1962 rule book says the first international match in over twenty years was played in Ireland in 1957, New York Athletic Club players winning four of seven matches (H-128; seller photographs of the book).

    Source: eBay listing 178429923015: seller photographs of an A.A.U. handball rules booklet (1962) (seen 30 October 2026)

  22. 1969-1975 · Documented

    The American court comes to Ireland: the first 40x20 court is built in 1969 and an All-Ireland 4-wall senior championship runs from 1975 (secondary: GAA Handball's page; the rolls). Highlight in The Irish Handball Council: All-Irelands, softball, the 40x20 (1924-2008).

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026). Also: GAA Handball Ireland, 4-wall championship roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)

  23. 1984-1990 · Documented

    Britain sends its first team to the World Championships (1984); London hosts an All-Ireland final (1990): the diaspora in the home body's record.

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, "History" (seen 28 October 2026)

  24. 1997 · Documented

    GAA wallball open Irish nationals from 1997: the American one-wall game enters the Irish record.

    Source: GAA Handball Ireland, wallball nationals roll of honour (seen 28 October 2026)

  25. 2012 · Documented

    A World Wall Ball Association is formed at the 2012 World Championships in Dublin by GAA Handball, the WHC and the CIJB (secondary).

    Source: jeudepaume.fr, World Wall Ball Association page (seen 28 October 2026)

  26. 2019-2025 · Documented

    GAA Handball's 1-wall rules (2019) describe themselves as consistent with the USHA's and are mostly USHA text (H-21); its 40x20 'International 4-Wall' rules are USHA text (H-24); from February 2025 one GAA book holds all four codes. The second crossing, in print.

    Source: GAA Handball Playing Rules: 1-Wall (Wexford GAA copy) (seen 28 October 2026). Also: GAA Handball Playing Rules: 4-Wall, Wallball, 60x30 Softball and Hardball (Wexford GAA copy), file dated 29 May 2025 (seen 28 October 2026)

What the sources do not show

  • No Irish newspaper, GAA Official Guide, county rule book or GAA archive has been read: every Irish event before 1963 rests on American or colonial newspapers, GAA Handball's history page (rank 4) or the champion rolls.
  • The home game 1884-1923: one governance fact (the 1914 congress instruction) and the 28-rule code dated only 1884-1903 (H-13); the 1905 Co. Dublin Handball Committee rules at the NLI are unread.
  • Whether the 1896 Cork convention met and what it adopted (H-92); whether any Irish body ever adopted the Sun's code.
  • The Council's name and relation to the GAA (H-102); the softball code's origin and ball (H-104); the 1924 Tailteann Games and the international commission named by the GAA page: unverified.
  • The 1957 international match (H-128) is known from seller photographs of a 1962 rule book; no Irish or New York report found.
  • The World Championships from 1964 and the WHC lists on eirball.ie are saved but not read into the record; the Gael Linn 1954-1979 roll is not read into the record; no Irish handball yearbook or Top Ace issue has been read.
  • No Irish-language source of any kind is in the project's records (the gaps are listed in its Irish-strand notes); the game's Irish vocabulary is a separate, unstarted page.
  • Irish champions after 1925 are named only in result tables; no Irish player after Bowles (1909) appears in a narrative fact.

Eras this thread crosses

Sources