GAA Handball Irelandis the governing body for the sport of handball. Its headquarters is located in Croke Park

Croke Park

Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

, Dublin.
As in the parent organisation, the Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 (GAA), a president is elected every three years. The current president is Walter O'Connor from Meath

Meath GAA

The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...

, who took up his role at the 2011 annual congress and will hold the post until 2014. Handball is one of the four Gaelic games

Gaelic games

Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...

 organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association

Gaelic Athletic Association

The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

.
The national committee of GAA Handball is Ard Comhairle (the central council) on which the president sits as chairman.
The chief executive officer of the association is Chris Curran from Tyrone

Tyrone GAA

The Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tyrone GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tyrone. The county board is also responsible for the Tyrone inter-county teams....

, who took up the position in 2009.

History of Irish handball

During the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, handball was very popular among the Irish republic, It was cheap, fun and easy to play but as years went by, handball lost its popularity to other GAA sports such as football and hurling and of course to "foreign" sports such as soccer and rugby. In recent times however there has been a surge in popularity of the sport. This is due to the rebranding of the sport as GAA Handball and the ongoing promotion of the sport and especially One Wall handball by the organisation. In 2012 Ireland will host the World Handball Championships in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin, where a multi-court complex will be erected to host the greatest International Handball event in history, with over 30 countries and 2,000+ competitors expected to attend. Due to the huge popularity of One Wall handball it is hoped it will become an Olympic sport in the future, with major plans at an advanced stage to form a new unified International Federation for the sport worldwide.

Television coverage

In late 2010, GAA Handball announced that it was to launch a new TV show on TG4 featuring highlights of the biggest competitions that were held over the last couple of months. In mid to late December of that year, TG4 premiered the first ever edition of the GAA Handball show and it was followed by a six part series that was broadcast in January, 2011. It was a huge success and following the broadcast of the six episodes, through a new association with TG4 as GAA Handball Ireland's media partner, this has been doubled with more episodes now to come. The new series will commence on Monday 2nd January 2012 with the opening 2 of the 8 episodes, and again every Monday night, on TG4 in January 2012. Further details are being planned for the All Ireland 40x20 Open Championships in April 2012 as the build-up to comprehensive TV coverage for the World Championships 2012 begins in earnest.

Irish Competitions

There are many handball competitions that are run in Ireland. In 40x20, the main competitions are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships plus the 40x20 Irish Nationals. In 60x30 Softball and Hardball, the main competitions are County, Province, and All-Ireland Championships. In 2011 GAA Handball Ireland launched the 60x30 Nationals and this competition will was held in July. In One-Wall handball, the main competition in Ireland is the Irish One-Wall Nationals, and this has been held in Breaffy House Sports Arena, Castlebar, since 2009. There are also many competitions during the year held by various handball clubs around the country.

International competitions

As with the Irish competitions, there are many international one-wall and 40x20 competitions, the main one being the World Handball Championships which are run every 3 years. In 2012, the 'Worlds' will be held in Ireland, in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin. The two codes of handball played in the World Handball Championships are 40x20 small court and One-Wall. Ireland currently have the World 40x20 Senior Mens Singles (Paul Brady) and Doubles Champions (Eoin Kennedy, Michael FInnegan) and Ladies Senior Singles (Fiona Shannon) and Doubles CHampions (Fiona Shannon, Sibeal Gallagher).

National Handball Centre

Following a number of planning issues, GAA Handball Ireland were granted planning permission in August 2011 to build a new €9 million National Handball Centre at Croke Park.

World Handball Championships 2012

As with the Irish competitions, there are many international one-wall and 40x20 competitions, the main one being the World Handball Championships which are run every 3 years. In 2012, the 'Worlds' will be held in Ireland, in the Citywest International Events Arena in Dublin. The two codes of handball played in the World Handball Championships are 40x20 small court and One-Wall. Ireland currently have the World 40x20 Senior Mens Singles (Paul Brady) and Doubles Champions (Eoin Kennedy, Michael FInnegan) and Ladies Senior Singles (Fiona Shannon) and Doubles Champions (Fiona Shannon, Sibeal Gallagher).