All-Ireland Handball Final In Naas (1925)

The Evening Herald of 14th November 1925 reported on the opening of a brand new handball court in Naas that could apparently cater for up to 500 spectators. It was erected, “at considerable cost”, by Mr E. Timmins who was a well known G.A.A. figure in the locality. At the official opening of the new court, Chairperson of the Handball Board Mr. J.J. Healy paid tribute to Mr Timmins’ enterprise and noted that Kildare was one of the best organised handball centres in the country.

Mr Timmins was the owner of The Random Inn, at Poplar Square, and the handball alley was located to the rear of the building. The Random Inn has in recent decades known as Butt Mullins Restaurant, while the outline of the large handball alley can be seen to the rear of the building to this day (August 2025).

The opening game at the new venue saw well-known exponent Junior single player Captain B. Whelan defeat his Dublin opponent easily. A Kildare team also easily overcame their Dublin opponents in an inter-county Junior match in the rubber event.

The Leinster Leader included an advertisement for the all-Ireland handball final between J. Kirby of Limerick and M. Joyce of Dublin. Joyce would eventually be crowned the all-Ireland champion.

Our thanks to Paddy Donovan who is currently researching handball in Ireland for bringing this event to our attention.