This is the Landing Page for the rounders.world Archive All-Time Results of GAA Irish, British, Australian and World Rounders as well as related sports such as European versions of Baseball – British (Welsh and English) Baseball, Finnish Pesapallo and Swedish Brannboll and American Stickball. The GAA World Archive is an ongoing project and part of the Eirball.ie – Irish, North American and World Sports Archives

Featured Image: Hand holding a rounders ball. Rounders is a bat and ball game between two team that involves hitting a hard leather cased ball with a wooden bat. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-rounders-ball-bat-game-277897988 [Accessed 19 February 2022

GAA Irish Rounders

Rounders is an Irish and British version of Softball and Baseball, and thought to be the ancestor of both. It was first codified in Ireland as part of the Original GAA Charter of 1884, but not organised until 1958. It is a Bat and Ball (also known as Safe Haven) sport whereby the batter attempts to hit a ball thrown at him or her by a pitcher or bowler and then attempts to run around the bases back home.

World Rounders

Rounders was first codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland and included in the first GAA Charter in 1884. It is also played in England, Wales and Australia and the GAA held its first Alpen Cup in Italy between two GAA clubs in Italy & Switzerland and a local Softball Club.

Below you will find links to World Rounders competitions:

British Rounders

British Rounders is a version of Rounders, first codified in the Original GAA Charter of 1884. It is also similar to the American Sports of Softball and Baseball.

Australian Rounders

Rounders is a bat and ball game involving two teams, each of which take turns batting and fielding. When a team is fielding a ‘Pitcher’ or ‘Bowler’ pitches (throws) the ball at the batter. The batter must strike the ball with his bat and run around the four bases back to home plate where he or she struck the ball, without being caught or run out. This is called a ‘Run’ (point). After a predetermined number of Batters is out, the Batting team and fielding team switch places. This is called an ‘Innings’. After a preset number of Innings the team with most runs is declared the winner. The game was possibly first played in England in the 1500s and was first codified by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland in 1884. Reference: [5].

In Australia it is primarily played in Schools.

References: [5] Rounders (2022) Rounders [Internet] Available from: https://www.rounders.com/ [Accessed 19 February 2022

European Baseball

Versions of Baseball and Rounders are played throughout Northern and Northwestern Europe. Other than Rounders played in Britain and Ireland, Welsh Baseball (also known as English Baseball in Liverpool or British Baseball) is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. It is primarily played in South Wales and Liverpool. Other versions of Baseball include Pesäpallo, which is Finland’s National Sport and Brännboll, a traditional game of Sweden.

Welsh Baseball

Welsh Baseball is a version of Rounders played primarily in South Wales, and also in Liverpool, where it is known as English Baseball. It is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the famous A.G. Spalding of Major League Baseball fame organised a Baseball Tour of England and Ireland, and in the process played a number of games against English and Welsh Rounders teams, who adopted some of the rules (such as tagging a playerout with the ball and two-handed batting). It kept the poles rather than flat bases and left the diamond in an irregular shape with all four sides unequal in length. Welsh Baseball also has a bat more like a Cricket Bat than a Baseball Bat, and it tapers towards the handle. According to sources in referenced in the articles below, Irish immigrants to Liverpool and South Wales were numerous among the Working Classes playing the game in the 20th Century. It is still played in South Wales and Liverpool but is now mostly a Children’s and Teenagers Game.

Scandinavian Baseball

Scandinavian Baseball (Pesäpallo, Brännboll) are Baseball games that are closer to Rounders than the Modern American Sport, and although Pesapallo (Finland’s National Sport) has been modernised a great deal, the other Scandinavian versions of the sport (e.g. Brännboll) are very much still traditional sports like Rounders and would undoubtedly have the same roots.

Finnish Pesäpallo

Pesäpallo is the Finnish version of Baseball and is their National Sport. It has an unusual form of pitching and players run zig-zags through bases. There is a game played on their National Holiday every year at the Finnish Embassy in Ireland.

Here is a Video of the sport from the New York Times, as shared by the Irish-Finnish Society on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IrishFinnishSociety/posts/1326676680678956 [Accessed 27 June 2019]

Swedish Brännboll

Brännboll is a traditional Swedish game similar to Baseball and Rounders. The Brännboll Cup, sometimes known as Brännboll World Cup is held every year at the Brännbollsryan Music Festival at Umea, the largest Music Fesitival in Northern Sweden.