Unbeatable: Father Tom Jones, Handball Supremo (1868-1950) - Softcover

Looney, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1786052636 ISBN 13: 9781786052636

Publisher: Red Stripe Press, 2025

Synopsis

Unbeaten records the life of the parish priest who became Ireland’s best handball champion, unbeaten for years.

TOM JONES, who was born in Tralee in 1868 and died as parish priest of Glenbeigh-Glencar in 1950, was the best handball player Ireland has ever known. By the time he was eighteen he had beaten all challengers to become the country’s handball champion, winning purses of up to £400 along the way. From 1887-95 he was unbeaten in competition.

Jones was happy to make money from fees for his sporting prowess and although he was not himself a gambler he profited from the gambling of others at a time when betting was part and parcel of handball.

Once ordained, Jones served as a priest and played handball in Australia, the USA and Canada before returning to Kerry diocese. Celebrated as an all-round sportsman and gymnast, he also played a multitude of musical instruments, among them the uilleann pipes, and mastered several languages, translating classic German and French texts into Irish for publication.

This book features many stories about Jones, both personal and sporting, that have passed into legend in Kerry and further afield.

Unbeatable is a book for players and lovers of handball, for the wider GAA community and for those interested in local history. It has the support of the Irish Handball Council (GAA Handball Ireland), which recently celebrated the centenary of its affiliation with the GAA in 1924.

With 10 b/w illustrations

About this title

About the Author

Tom Looney is a retired priest of Kerry diocese, a keen follower of Kerry GAA and the author of Dick Fitzgerald: King in a Kingdom of Kings (2008), an account of the fabled Dr Croke’s and Kerry footballer. He lives in Killarney.

Edition details

• Publisher: Red Stripe Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1786052636
• ISBN 13: 9781786052636
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144