Yes, yes. You read that right. Saint Nicholas would rest well in Ireland… At least according to legend, and the theory of Irish historians specializing in the Saint! According to the latter, the remains of Santa Claus himself are buried in a ruined church north-west of Jerpoint Abbey in Ireland! It would appear that the remains were transported from country to country before reaching their final destination: County Kilkenny. It’s a theory that has been the subject of debate and passion for several decades… without ever being fully elucidated!
Tomb of Saint Nicholas in Ireland – Jody Halsted – cc
Funny but true: Ireland seems to be the Saints’ favourite eternal resting place! Starting with the legendary Saint Patrick, who is buried in Downpatrick… Closely followed by Saint Valentine, the symbolic figure of the festival of lovers, chocolates and bouquets of flowers, whose remains are stored in the Carmelite Church on Whitefriar Street in Dublin…
It would seem that green Erin is a destination of choice for the Saints!
But that’s not all: a crazy theory has been circulating on the Emerald Isle for years… According to well-known historians, Santa Claus (known as Saint Nicholas) was also buried in Ireland!
To back up this crazy story, you need to visit Jerpoint Abbey in County Kilkenny. Not far from here, there’s an old ruined church ( St Nicholas Church in Belmore House) with a strange tombstone… To be precise, it’s a carved stone slab, split right through, depicting Saint Nicolas…
For many historians, there’s no doubt: this is where the Saint would have rested… And the explanation is simple: his remains would have been moved several times before landing on these Irish shores!
To help you understand, we’d like to take a step back in time. As a reminder, Saint Nicholas was a great bishop of the city of Myra in Lycia (located in modern-day Turkey). In particular, he is renowned for having redistributed the wealth he inherited to the poor. An act of great generosity, which has earned him a reputation as Santa Claus…
He was buried in Myre Cathedral in 343 at the age of 73, and was beatified shortly after his death on December 6, 346. The cathedral became a major place of pilgrimage for believers.
Unfortunately, the Saint’s fame attracted the covetousness of Baresi sailors, who stole the tomb centuries later, in 1087. They took it to their home town in southern Italy, before Pope Urban II decided 2 years later to place the remains in a consecrated crypt in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari.
But that’s not all… A group of Irish historians claim that the Saint’s remains were moved again near Jerpoint Abbey by a family of French Crusaders, the “De Frainets”.
To be exact, the De Frainets would have exhumed the tomb in Bari, then transported its contents to southern Italy (which had been under Norman control since 1068). When they were forced to leave Italy, they entrusted the relic to close relatives in Nice.
They then transported the remains to their family estate in Kilkenny. (The de Frainets have owned land in Ireland since 1169).
It was not until years later that Nicolas de Frainets had an abbey built to house the Saint’s burial more ceremoniously.
Today, a slab still marks the grave site… It’s this famous slab, cracked across its width, that would represent the Saint, and create a real question mark within the research community.
All the ingredients for a lively debate between historians and theorists! Some are even calling for the body to be exhumed for biological analysis… But so far, the situation seems to be at a standstill… and the mystery remains unsolved…
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