Ball Alley

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Freestanding, largely reinforced concrete, handball court or "alley" constructed in 1926 and extended in 1942. Three walled with an open aspect to the NE the alley comprises a high, rubblestone rear wall, extended and raised in reinforced concrete with 4 piers at the uppermost level, and raked side walls, also reinforced concrete, buttressed externally by 3 piers. The rubblestone element is likely a remnant from the gable of the recreation hall that was formerly on the site which, in turn, may have utilized stone from the earlier chapel. The alley conforms to the standard large-alley size 60 by 30 feet and while smaller alleys were introduced in Ireland in 1969, measuring 40 by 20 feet, both sizes are still used in the game today.
The ball alley is located on Alley Road, close the junction with the Dundalk Road, on the grounds of the former Moybane Roman Catholic Chapel. The grassed site is delineated from the road verge by a concrete two-rail fence and arched metal gateway, a vertical timber boarded fence above a stone wall forms the boundary to the SW and hedgerow the remaining boundaries.
A detached one-room structure is located behind the main hitting wall (SW) - single skin - sand cement render finish - with dual-pitched corrugated metal roof. On the NW elevation, a single square- headed door opening and metal framed casement window. A square window opening on the SE elevation incorporating a metal casement window with top hung and side hung opening lights.
A simple bench is set in front of the hedgerow on the NE boundary.
A plague mounted on the road facing elevation is inscribed 1926 1992 MOBANE HANDBALL ALLEY Built 1926. Extended 1942 Restored 1992 Opened 28th June 1992 by Father Donal Sweeney

Historical information

Moybane (also spelled Mobane and Mowbane) handball alley bears a plaque dating its construction to 1926, which also notes that it was extended in 1942 and restored in 1992. The ball alley retains in its western elevation the remains of an attached recreation hall built between 1907 and 1933 and ruinous by 1945. It is likely that this recreation hall contained fabric from Moybane chapel, built c1810 and in ruins by 1904.

‘Moybane RC Chapel’ is shown captioned on the first edition OS map of 1835. The exact construction date of the chapel is unknown, however, several statistical surveys of Creggan parish mention the chapel by name in the period 1836 to 1840. Rev Simon Nelson notes that in 1840 all the RC chapels in Creggan parish, including Moybane, were ‘capacious buildings’ and ‘well slated, being built within the last thirty years’. Shaw Mason reports that there were five RC chapels in Creggan parish in 1814, and it appears likely that Moybane was one of these, giving a possible date of construction for the church of c1810. In 1837, the Townland Valuation records the chapel as 67½ feet long by 23½ feet wide and 11 feet in height. The quality mark given is 1B, indicating that the church was slated and ‘slightly decayed but in good repair’.

Moybane chapel is believed to have closed for worship after the completion of Crossmaglen RC church (HB16/17/011) in the late 1830s, however, the chapel remained in valuation records for some decades and is noted in Griffith’s Valuation of 1864 as the ‘old RC chapel’, being shown intact on the 2nd edition OS map of 1862. It was not until 1904 that the chapel was recorded as a ‘ruin’ and its value deleted, no identifiable remains being depicted on the third edition OS map (1907).

Although it is believed locally that the ball alley contains the gable wall of the former chapel, the picture revealed by valuation records is more complex. Valuation books for the 1930s contain a record of a recreation hall overlapping the site of the former church in 1933. This hall, which was constructed after 1907 (3rd edition OS map) and, most likely, before 1926, had the ball alley ‘at gable’ and was in ‘rather poor repair’ in 1933, being used as a store for agricultural produce. Dimensions were 36 x 26½ feet, 11 feet high and the building had rubble masonry walls with a corrugated iron roof. Interior details are given as: a wood floor, dado and ceiling, plastered walls, and fixed form seating around the walls. The recreation hall was deleted from valuation records in 1946, and, given its short lifespan, does not appear on any historic map editions. However, the wall that it shared with the ball alley co-incides with the position of the former western gable of the chapel and it appears highly likely that the recreation hall was built using at least the foundations of the former church gable and, no doubt, any upstanding fabric or available fallen stone. This fabric therefore survives in the external western elevation of the ball alley.

The remains of the old chapel may well have been used informally for the sport from the mid-19th century. Although there appears to have been little left of the old chapel by the third edition map of 1907, we can conjecture that, following the construction of the recreation hall, the building of the ball alley in 1926 formalised a long tradition of using this site for handball. The evolution of the ball alley from 1926 to the present is not entirely clear but a plausible scenario that fits the known facts is that the gable wall of the recreation hall was built up to a level height perhaps with wing walls attached, using available fabric from the old chapel and rendered on one side to provide a playing surface. Subsequently the court was extended to one side (to conform with the standard court size) and vertically (this is perhaps the ‘extension’ that took place in 1942) using concrete.

Between 1907 and 1933, a new dance hall (still present) was built of concrete block on the other side of the crossroads, holding dances on Sundays and holidays for up to 300 people – this building also functioned as a cinema before 1933, but ‘pictures did not pay and were given up’. Together with the recreation hall, ball alley and a small grocer’s shop, Moybane village was a centre for meeting and entertainment during the 1920s, 30s and into the 1940s. However, by 1939 the dance hall and recreation hall were facing competition from a new recreation hall at Cullaville. Nonetheless the ball alley was extended in 1942, indicating its continued use. By 1945 the recreation hall was in ruins (and was struck out of the records in 1946, although the ball alley endured). while the dance hall, which was damaged by RAF occupation during the war, became an agricultural outbuilding in 1955.

The handball court is first shown on the fourth edition OS map of 1956, captioned ‘Ball Alley’. Moybane ball alley is shown as approximately 60 x 30 feet, conforming to the standard, Irish court size at this time. Field inspection suggests that the rear and wing walls have been increased in height during the life of the court and that the wing walls were also extended in length after 1982 (depicted as shorter on 1982 large-scale map).

A new recreation hall (still present, although now truncated in length) was constructed to the rear of the court between 1956 (4th edition OS map) and 1982 (Large-scale OS map). According to the information plaque on the ball alley, the court was restored in 1992.

The game of handball has a long history in Ireland, dating at least to the early 18th century, and, many believe, to the medieval period. Although handball can be played informally against any available wall, and a one-wall game does exist and has become increasingly popular in modern times, a court or alley having at least three sides has been used for at least 250 years. The first evidence for purpose-built ball alleys or ‘ball yards’ dates from the mid-18th century when several are recorded in Dublin, and there was a surge in their construction in the first half of the 19th century including the building of a ball alley in Armagh. The popularity of handball endured through the social dislocation of the famine, and it was ‘a favourite pastime’ in Ulster in the 1870s.

While most Gaelic sports were brought under the control of the GAA in the late 19th century, handball activity remained largely unregulated for some decades, other than the standardisation of court size in 1885. Large sums of money were typically wagered on the outcome of matches, with cash prizes offered to the winning individuals. However, an Irish amateur handball union was established in 1912 following highly publicised world title matches between Irish American and Irish champions in the 1890s and 1900s and the game began to be formalised. The first championships sponsored by the GAA took place in 1923, followed by the inauguration of the Irish Handball Association in 1924. All-Ireland championships, based ultimately on competition between counties rather than individuals, were then an annual event from 1925 onwards. It was at this time that the Moybane handball court was constructed, perhaps with support from the all-Ireland bodies that existed to promote the game and utilising the gable of the former chapel/recreation hall that may have been informally used for the sport.

Handball is played in at least six other countries as well as Ireland, particularly among the diaspora in the US and Canada, where the court size is generally smaller (40x20 feet – the smaller court size has been more common for new courts built since 1969 in Ireland, both court sizes being used in separate championships). The modern competitive game of handball is now generally played in indoor courts, and outdoor handball courts, although many are still in use, are declining in numbers. Armagh had eight handball courts in 1982 but only four outdoor courts are recorded in a recent online survey (www.irishhandballalley.ie), a court at St Joseph’s High School in Crossmaglen having been recently demolished (2019).

References:

Primary Sources:

1. Mason, William Shaw (1814) A Statistical Account or Parochial Survey of Ireland, Volume I Dublin: Hibernia Press Office
2. PRONI OS/6/2/30/1 First Edition Six Inch OS map (1835)
3. PRONI VAL/1A/2/30 Townland Valuation , Parish of Creggan
4. Nelson, Rev Simon (1840) History of the Parish of Creggan in counties Armagh and Louth 1611-1840. Belfast: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
5. PRONI OS/6/2/30/2 Second Edition Six Inch OS map (1862)
6. Griffith’s Valuation townland of Moybane (www.askaboutireland.ie) (1864)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/12/7A-D (1859-1929) Annual Revision Lists, ED Moybane
8. PRONI OS/6/2/30/3 Third Edition Six Inch OS map (1907)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/14 (1935-1957) First General Revaluation, Rural District of Newry, Vol 3
10. PRONI VAL/3/D/2/6/Y/5 (1933-57) Valuers RV Binder, ED Moybane
11. PRONI OS/6/2/30/4 Fourth Edition Six Inch OS map (1956)
12. Large scale OS maps 1907, 1982 (https://shop.centremapslive.co.uk/)

Secondary Sources:

13. Corry, Eoghan (2006) An illustrated history of the GAA Dublin: Gill & Macmillan
14. Doherty, Ray (1970) Handball Dublin: Irish Handball Association
15. Kelly, James (2014) Sport in Ireland, 1600-1840 Dublin: Four Courts Press
16. McElligott, Tom (1984) The Story of Handball: the game, the players, the history. Dublin: Wolfhound Press
17. Irish Handball Alley blog www.irishhandballalley.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
E. Spatial Organisation
H+. Alterations enhancing the building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Handball is an ancient Irish sport, appearing in written records, in the statutes of Galway, in 1527 and growing exceptionally in popularity in the 1800’s . This handball alley is an important reminder of the strong position the sport once held in many parts of Ireland and its construction in 1926 coincides with the significant developments in the sport in 1920’s when the GAA took steps to promote, formalise and develop the sport, sponsoring the first championships in 1923, establishing a handball council in 1924 and the first all-Ireland Handball congress in 1925.
Interest is added to the building by the changes which reflect the historic development of the site from Roman Catholic church to recreation hall and ball alley and later to enlarged alley. The changes reflect cultural change as well as developments within the game. The building retains visible evidence of this past with the incorporation of the stone gable within the back wall of the alley.