Handball

This is the Landing Page for the GAA.world Archive All-Time Results of GAA, World, European and North American Handball. The GAA World Archive is an ongoing project and part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

Handball was first played in Ireland according to the World Handball Council website and the GAA Handball website describes it as the GAA’s only real World Sport. It is organised along the same lines as the rest of the Gaelic Games which come under the authority of the GAA – with County, Provincial and All-Ireland Championships, in both Men’s and Women’s, Team and Individual, Boys and Girls and also in Softball and Hardball versions. Some players compete in the European Pro Wallball Tour (Wallball is a unified version of Handball in Europe, bringing together the Handball of Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, Basque Country, Belgium, Wallonia, Flanders and Netherlands. Others play on the US circuit or in Canada and Australia. It is also played in Japan and Latin America.

Statue erected in memory of Joe Maher
Irish Handball Centre

GAA Handball Club Competitions

GAA Handball Tournaments

All-Ireland Club Championships (Overviews)

GAA Handball All-Ireland Inter Club Championship Open Finals 2012-2018

GAA Handball 40×20 Inter-Club Championship (Seasons): 2017

GAA Handball Gael Linn (Seasons): 2018

GAA Handball Intervarsity Championships (Seasons): 1991

PIcture Credit: 26th April 2019, Dublin, Ireland. Irish Handball Centre Social Club and Bar building next to Croke Park stadium, St Joseph’s Ave, Drumcondra.

D

By Dirk Hudson

Irish Handball Centre

World Handball Council

Handball is described on the GAA Handball website as the only real GAA World Sport. The World Handball Council says Handball was first played in Ireland, and it is very popular throughout the United States of America and Canada, with the World Handball Players the top Pro Competition, and variations such as Inner City Handball. It is also played in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America, Australia and Japan.

European Handball

Handball is described on the GAA Handball website as the only real GAA World Sport, with a high level of Competition in Western Europe (the European Wallball Pro Tour: Euro1Wall) as well as Organisations, each with their own variation on the rules, in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, Basque Country, Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels and Flanders) and Netherlands.

Wallball has emerged in recent decades as a unified world form of Handball, and there is a European Wallball Tour, featuring rounds in England, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium and elswehere.

There are versions of the sport throughout Western Europe, and Irish Players take part in Tournaments worldwide.

Below you will find links to the Results and Rankings of various Tours and Tournaments:

anonymous athletes playing handball in outdoor courts in sunlight
anonymous athletes playing handball in outdoor courts in sunlight

European Team Handball

Kaatsen in Franeker

Confederacion International de Pelota a Mano

Eton Fives

Eton Fives is a variation on the game of Handball, first played in Ireland, and the origins of Eton Fives go back to Medieval Peasants playing the gamea against the wall of the chapel at Eton College, where there is a handrail down one side. The first court was built in Eton in 1840, by the Headmaster, Dr. Hawtrey. In 1877 AC Ainger drew up the first rules of the game.

Eton Fives Association Logo