Fr Pontianus Jafla knew nothing about Kilbrittain before he moved there to minister, but will be shouting “Up the Ambers!” with the rest of the community this weekend.
The west Cork club will take on Easkey from Co Sligo in the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Club Final in Croke Park on Saturday.
“I had never heard of Kilbrittain until I moved here, but within a week of arriving here Kilbrittain felt like my home – people were so warm and welcoming and everyone seemed to know me,” smiled Fr Pontianus, as he is known locally.
A keen soccer player who lines out in local five-a-side games, Fr Pontianus admitted he had also never heard of hurling until he came to Ireland five years ago to study. Now he is a big fan of the game.
“I had seen a hurley before – my parish priest in Nigeria, the late Fr Colin Fives from Dungarvan, had a hurley in his house but I did not know what it was or how it was used. I thought it was like a machete,” laughed the native of Taraba State in the north of the African country. “But since coming here, I’ve learned all about hurling.”
He has seen Kilbrittain, in their black and amber Kilkenny-style striped jerseys, beat Glen Rovers in the Cork Premier Junior Hurling Final, and Kilrossanty from Waterford in the Munster Junior Hurling Final.
“I think it’s a beautiful game. It is faster than football – when you play football you have moments when you can take a breather, but in hurling, from start to finish it’s all go and end-to-end stuff. And the players are so skilful the way they control and strike the ball,” he said.
Fr Pontianus, who offered his services as a priest to the Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr Fintan Gavin, after he graduated with a PhD in Sociology from University College Cork a year ago, has seen first-hand the role the GAA plays in communities like Kilbrittain.
“Kilbrittain is a small community but the sense of unity here is very great. You go to some places and you see they are trying to act [with] a sense of unity, but here the unity is so organic and just flows and the GAA is central to that – a real point of connection for everyone, young and old,” Fr Pontianus said.
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He watched last year’s All-Ireland Senior Final between Cork and Tipperary on TV and was disappointed when the Rebels lost. But he has never been to Croke Park and is looking forward to seeing GAA HQ when he visits Dublin to cheer on the Ambers.
“I am travelling up with the team on the bus,” he said, “but first I am saying Mass at 7am here for people going to the game. I will be praying for everyone to get to the game safely but also, if it’s God will, for the team to win and hopefully bring the cup back to Kilbrittain.”