Turnpike Handball Court,

Co. Tipperary.

Documenting our Heritage

The construction of the Turnpike Handball Court was overseen by Reverend O’Dwyer, the court was finished in 1951.

Handball is played in a court 40 feet long by 20 feet wide.  The front wall, off which the ball must be struck measures 20 feet high. The game is played with two, three or four players who can hit the ball only with their hand. Points are scored only by the person serving the ball, hence if a player wins a rally but did not start the serve, he wins no points but only the right to serve.

Handball is said to have originated in Egypt; Hieroglyphs showing priests engaged in a similar game have been discovered in the temple of Osiris. The game also appears to have been played in the early civilisations of South and Central America.

Modern Gaelic Handball originates from both Scotland and Ireland.

The first written records relate to the banning of playing handball games against the town walls of Galway in 1527.