Killeigh, Co. Offaly

Killeigh, Co. Offaly
Photographed by T.J. Ryan, May 2009, and by E. Timoney in March 2020
Last photograph and following text from NIAH
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=OF®no=14813010
1900 - 1940
Handball alley, built c.1920, with rendered and concrete walls. Concrete slabs to floor. Shamrock detail incised into north wall.

This handball alley, located in the centre of the village green, is a focal point of Killeigh. Handball alleys are representative of Ireland's social history. During Ireland's emergence as an independent nation, the sport increased in popularity. From the late nineteenth century onwards, courts were erected in many villages and towns, creating centres of communal recreation. During the latter part of the twentieth century handball alleys' appeal waned with the result that many alleys have since fallen into disrepair due to disuse and neglect.