Ball attended Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), graduating with a BA in 1871 with a gold medal in natural science, following with an MB and M.Ch.

[1] Ball won a surgical travelling prize in 1873 to study in Vienna, taking an MD from Dublin University in 1875, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) in 1879.

He practised as a surgeon at the Blaenavon Iron and Steel Co. in Monmouthshire, Wales from 1874 to 1881, then returning to Dublin to become a medical officer in the Grand Canal St.

[1] Ball was appointed assistant surgeon to Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital in 1883, joining Edward Hallaran Bennett, a pioneer in antiseptic surgery in Dublin.

Ball served as consulting surgeon to a number of institutions in Dublin, including the Steevens', Monkstown, and Orthopaedic hospitals.

He served as a lieutenant-colonel with the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I and as a consulting surgeon for troops in Ireland.

Ball was a member of RCSI council, and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (England) from 1900.