McElligott Handball Papers
IE CCCA/SM6
Descriptive List
Cork City and County Archives
IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference:
Title:
Level of
description:
Date:
Extent:
IE CCCA/SM6
McElligott Handball Papers
fonds
1900 - 1955 (1887, 1982)
29 items
CONTEXT
Creator:
McElligott, Thomas J, author
Biographical/Administrative History:
Thomas J McElligott was a teacher and author, whose books include a memoir, This Teaching Life,
(Dublin 1986), and several books on the history of education in Ireland. A lover of the sport of
handball, he also wrote The Story of Handball: the Game, The Players, The History (Dublin, 1984) and
served as general secretary of the Irish Handball Association in the late 1940s/early 1950s.
[Sources: http://catalogue.nli.ie/Author/Home?author=McElligott%2C%20T.%20J.;
http://thenewwildgeese.com/profiles/blogs/tom-mcelligott-book-on-handball-and-ballymoreeustace]
Archival History:
Evidently deposited by McElligott in the 1980s.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Scope and Content:
File containing letters, newscuttings, and photographs regarding the history of handball, gathered by
Tom McElligott. The items refer in particular to the history of the game in Cork and Cork players in
the early 20th century. Includes the following:
1. Letter, 7 Jan 1949, from T Jones, the Presbytery, Glenbeigh, Co Kerry, to McElligott, regarding his
own playing days, memories and information, and 'the wonderful and unbeatable Oliver Drew'. 3pp
2. Letter, 9 Jan 1950, from Jones to McElligott, referring to Casey, Drew, Egan, Monsignor Collins,
and other 'wonderful exponents of the greatest of all manly games'. 3pp
SM6 McElligott Handball Papers
3. Letter, 1 Mar 1954, from RS Anthony, Friar's Walk, Cork, to McElligott, regarding historical
information sought, including on the match between Lawlor and Casey, Willie Herlihy, and the Drew
brothers. 1p
4. Letter, 10 Nov 1955, from Mick [Halloran], Old Market Place, Cork, to McElligott, writing at length
about his own playing days, including time in Australia, 'hoping you may get a bit here and there for
your write up'. He hopes 'you'll be handball Boss in 1956 - you made it what it is today and no doubt
about that'. 8pp
5. Letter, 5 May 1982, from the Secretary, James J Murphy & Co Ltd, Lady's Well Brewery, Cork, to
McElligott, regarding the history of the Ball Alley [Old Market Place, Cork], which was attached to a
licensed premises [owned by Murphy's]. Reference is made to renewed interest in the game during
the tenancy of the Hallorans ('Michael apparently won the World Championship in Australia at some
stage'). Attached is a list of transfers of the licence from 1891 until Murphy's sale of the premises in
1976. 3pp
6. Printed page, Honorary Secretary's Report for 1929 [Irish Handball Association]
7. Typescript note regarding William Herlihy, Irish title-holder in 1903 and 1905, and his family. His
sons played with the Cork City club until it was disbanded in 1960. 1p
8. Two printed cuttings from [Irish Handball Association] report for 1902, referring to Oliver Drew's
match with Michael Egan.
9. Typescript copy of report from the Jersey City Evening Journal of 23 May 1902 regarding the
match between Corkman Oliver Drew and American champion Michael Egan. 1p.
10.-14. Set of cuttings, and one notice, regarding Oliver Drew, and in particular his win over Michael
Egan in 1902. He became world champion in Chicago in 1904 and retired in 1908. He died in 1938.
Item 14 is a notice for a match between Drew and Dennis Sullivan at Kennedy's Court [New York] on
2 Dec 1906
15.-17. Two small cuttings, 1900 and 1905, regarding victories by JJ Bowles of Limerick, and a larger
cutting about him [undated]
18. Mounted cuttting regarding the history of the Cork City Club [undated, c1956].
19. Newscutting reporting the victory of Keogh and Walsh (Cork) over the Clarke brothers (Dublin)
[undated]
20. Small cutting recording the victory of O'Halloran (Cork) over Ormonde (Tipperary) [1939]
21.-25. Newscuttings containing photographs: Munster Championship final (1925); Munster players
(1929); All-Ireland Handball Championships in Cork (2 Jul 1933); Handball Association Convention in
Cork (1938); International Handball in Cork (1940). Some other cuttings and pictures occur on the
reverse of the mounting of some of these cuttings.
26. Photographic print, four players, 1903, A O'Rourke (US), T Twohill (Ire), M Egan (US), Dunne (US),
'photo taken in Cork'.
27. Photograph on card frame, W Herlihy, Judge Dunne and son, and G Herlihy. [Undated]
28. Photograph, Paddy Lyons. [Undated. Marked 'handball' and 'Holly Bough', copyright-stamped
'Independent']
29. Photocopy of newcutting dated 6 Aug 1887 with report on match between Lawlor, Dublin, and
Casey, Brooklyn, for £400. The cutting includes trade announcements for distillers, brewers, and
bars.
The collection includes a set of photocopies of most of the foregoing items.
©Cork City and County Archives 2014
Page 2 of 3
SM6 McElligott Handball Papers
Subjects:
McElligott, Thomas J, author and sports administrator
Drew, Oliver, handballer (d1938)
Irish handball Association
Sport, Handball
Sporting Organisations
CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE
Conditions Governing Access:
Open by appointment to all holding a current reader's ticket
Conditions Governing Reproduction:
Subject to Rules Governing Reproduction of Records at CCCA
Language:
English
Finding Aids:
Descriptive List
RULES /CONVENTIONS USED
ISAD(G)
ARCHIVIST’S NOTE
Prepared by: Timmy O Connor, Local Government Archivist
Date: May 2014
©Cork City and County Archives 2014
Page 3 of 3