Ball worked in the Geological Survey of India for twenty years before returning to take up a position in Ireland.

Valentine was born in Dublin, the second son of Robert Ball and Amelia Gresley Hellicar.

[2] Ball married Mary, the eldest daughter of John Stewart Moore, of Moyarget, Antrim in 1879.

His expertise on central India led to his advice being sought for the alignment of a proposed railway line between Bombay and Calcutta.

[2] Returning to Ireland in 1881, he became professor of geology and mineralogy at the University of Dublin, succeeding Samuel Haughton.

[3] Ball was a regular contributor to Stray Feathers, the ornithological journal founded by Allan Octavian Hume.

When collecting bird specimens, he routinely examined the stomach contents and wrote on their diet and habits.