Nurney, Co. Kildare
Photographs 2,3 and 4 by J. Horgan
1st Photograph and following text from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=KD®no=11902709
1930 - 1940
Freestanding mass-concrete handball alley, dated 1935, on a corner site. Mass-concrete walls (tall to east; sloping to north and to south; short to west). Unpainted. Cut-stone date stone. Square-headed door opening. Metal door. Metal viewing gallery, c.1980, to west. Road fronted.
This is a fine example of a mass-concrete handball alley that is still in use. Once a common sight across the country, having been initiated as part of the cultural nation-building of the early Irish Republic, many of these structures have subsequently been demolished, which means that the example at Nurney is an important and increasingly rare survival. Of considerable social and cultural importance the handball alley is also of vernacular interest, being a building type that is indigenous to the country. The construction of the building using mass-concrete is also of some technical/engineering merit. The handball alley is attractively located on a corner site and is a prominent landmark in the locality.
19 August 2008
Nurney, Co. Kildare
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4 comments:
There is also another Handball Alley in the Kildoon area of Nurney..
The Kildoon handball alley was built circa 1790's, and is still in use today. it has recently undergone a major refurbishment and is in excelent shape considering its over 200 years old
Where exactly is it?
It is located at the following coordinates: 53°05'47.3"N 6°55'04.5"W
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