Grave of St. Nicholas - buried in Ireland?
written by Andrew Hagerty
According to local Irish legend, Saint Nicholas is buried in County Kilkenny. The grave is said to be in the ruined Church of St Nicholas, Jerpoint. The village surrounded the Cistercian Jerpoint Abbey, founded in 1183. Located on 1,880 acres, the abbey had its own gardens, watermills, cemetery, granary, and kitchens. It served as a launching point for Irish-Norman Crusaders from Kilkenny. The abbey was disolved in 1540.
The town was made there first for the toll bridge, Jerpoint means 'Nore bridge'. The town was founded by either Earl Marshall or Griffin Fitzwilliam in 12th century.
The Church and town were quite prosperous. Their main reason was as a destination for pilgrims. There were only 27 houses, which the church was too large to warrant them. Also fourteen of the houses included taverns for travelers.
The ruined church is now found on privately held farm land, owned by Joe and Meave O'Connell. Located to the west of the abbey, the church has an unusual grave slab with an image of a cleric, thought to be a bishop, and two other heads. The cleric is said to be St Nicholas and the heads, the two crusaders who, so the story goes, brought Nicholas' remains back to Ireland. Though the church dates from 1170, the grave slab appears to be from the 1300s.
St Nicholas is said to be Nicholas, a bishop from Myra, , which is in present day Turkey, from around 270 until he died on the 6th December 343. He is most famous for his secret gift--giving and generosity. Most tales hold that his wealthy parents died while he was still young, and he used his wealth to help others. His house was beside three others where the daughters had come to marriageable age but could not get a husband because the didn’t have a dowry. So, he took three bags of gold and the threw one through the front door of the first house, one through the front door of the second house, and because the front door of the third house was closed he climbed up onto the roof and lowered the bag of gold down the chimney. These three bags of gold are the round symbols which you can still see outside the doors of pawn-brokers shops. He became the patron saint of sailors, stockbrokers, pawn-brokers, children and young women who are looking for a husband and don’t have a dowry.
After Bishop Nicholas died, he was buried in Turkey, where he had lived. But during the invasion of Seljuk Turks in 1071, most of the relics – his remains – were removed to Bari, in Italy.
How they got from Turkey to Ireland is a bit of a debate.
One tale tells of a band of Irish-Norman knights from Jerpoint, traveling to the Holy Land to take part in the Crusades. One was known as Denn, the 'Dayne' and the other was Nicholas de Freynit, whose surname eventually became Freyney. On their return to Ireland they brought St Nicholas' remains to Kilkenny where the bones were buried. The details of if they were seized or came “with the blessing of Rome” are up for debate.
A second version of the story tells of a French family, the de Frainets, who removed Nicholas' remains from Myra to Bari, Italy, in 1169 when Bari was under the Normans. The de Frainets were crusaders to the Holy Land and also owned land in Thomastown, Ireland. After the Normans were forced out of Bari, the de Frainets moved to Nice, France, taking the relics with them. When Normans lost power in France, the Nicholas de Frainets packed up once again, moving to Ireland. This story has the relics being buried in Jerpoint in 1200.
Newtown Jerpoint, fell to ruin by the 17th century. The loss of the toll bridge and re routing of the road combined with los of the abbey in 1540 contributed to it’s decline.
In 2009 the government of Turkey requested all artifacts belonging to St Nick be returned to Turkey. The reason a Muslim nation wants the body of a catholic saint returned? Apparently the town of St Nick has a large volume of pilgrims each year. I guess they feel that with the body returned, that would increase. After several hundred years, it appears St Nick is still giving.
The town was made there first for the toll bridge, Jerpoint means 'Nore bridge'. The town was founded by either Earl Marshall or Griffin Fitzwilliam in 12th century.
The Church and town were quite prosperous. Their main reason was as a destination for pilgrims. There were only 27 houses, which the church was too large to warrant them. Also fourteen of the houses included taverns for travelers.
The ruined church is now found on privately held farm land, owned by Joe and Meave O'Connell. Located to the west of the abbey, the church has an unusual grave slab with an image of a cleric, thought to be a bishop, and two other heads. The cleric is said to be St Nicholas and the heads, the two crusaders who, so the story goes, brought Nicholas' remains back to Ireland. Though the church dates from 1170, the grave slab appears to be from the 1300s.
St Nicholas is said to be Nicholas, a bishop from Myra, , which is in present day Turkey, from around 270 until he died on the 6th December 343. He is most famous for his secret gift--giving and generosity. Most tales hold that his wealthy parents died while he was still young, and he used his wealth to help others. His house was beside three others where the daughters had come to marriageable age but could not get a husband because the didn’t have a dowry. So, he took three bags of gold and the threw one through the front door of the first house, one through the front door of the second house, and because the front door of the third house was closed he climbed up onto the roof and lowered the bag of gold down the chimney. These three bags of gold are the round symbols which you can still see outside the doors of pawn-brokers shops. He became the patron saint of sailors, stockbrokers, pawn-brokers, children and young women who are looking for a husband and don’t have a dowry.
After Bishop Nicholas died, he was buried in Turkey, where he had lived. But during the invasion of Seljuk Turks in 1071, most of the relics – his remains – were removed to Bari, in Italy.
How they got from Turkey to Ireland is a bit of a debate.
One tale tells of a band of Irish-Norman knights from Jerpoint, traveling to the Holy Land to take part in the Crusades. One was known as Denn, the 'Dayne' and the other was Nicholas de Freynit, whose surname eventually became Freyney. On their return to Ireland they brought St Nicholas' remains to Kilkenny where the bones were buried. The details of if they were seized or came “with the blessing of Rome” are up for debate.
A second version of the story tells of a French family, the de Frainets, who removed Nicholas' remains from Myra to Bari, Italy, in 1169 when Bari was under the Normans. The de Frainets were crusaders to the Holy Land and also owned land in Thomastown, Ireland. After the Normans were forced out of Bari, the de Frainets moved to Nice, France, taking the relics with them. When Normans lost power in France, the Nicholas de Frainets packed up once again, moving to Ireland. This story has the relics being buried in Jerpoint in 1200.
Newtown Jerpoint, fell to ruin by the 17th century. The loss of the toll bridge and re routing of the road combined with los of the abbey in 1540 contributed to it’s decline.
In 2009 the government of Turkey requested all artifacts belonging to St Nick be returned to Turkey. The reason a Muslim nation wants the body of a catholic saint returned? Apparently the town of St Nick has a large volume of pilgrims each year. I guess they feel that with the body returned, that would increase. After several hundred years, it appears St Nick is still giving.
