Mayo archive on old handball alleys to feature on RTÉ's Nationwide

AN archive of Mayo's handball heritage will feature on RTÉ's Nationwide programme this week.

Back in 2018, Dick Heraty decided to photograph as many old handball alleys as he could find in Co. Mayo.

Since then he had photographed 84 alleys in total - 67 in Mayo, five each in Galway and Roscommon, six in Sligo and one in Monaghan.

The majority were captured over the course of 2019, before Covid struck the following year, with restrictions making it difficult to work.

Dick's handball interest is no surprise. He grew up playing the game locally in Castlebar and his uncle, Fr. Richie Horan, was chairman of the Connacht Council back in the late '50s.

Many communities had alleys, which were cheap to build and free to run, and the sport had huge appeal. Unfortunately, most alleys had no proper affiliation to anywhere and as times moved on, many were abandoned.

The unique archive that Dick has created came to the attention of the Nationwide programme team earlier this year, and they have recorded a feature on it which will be broadcast on Friday, November 21, at 7 p.m.

The programme also features Micheal Lang, who has an interest in social history and in the heritage of all traditional Gaelic Games. Michael has been involved in the GAA for his whole life, as player, coach and administrator in football and more recently in handball.