Did you know ‘Santa Claus’ is said to be buried in Ireland?

The remains of St Nicholas are said to be in the grounds of a ruined church.

That's right - legend claims the remains of St Nicholas are buried in the grounds of a ruined church in county Kilkenny.

An old folk tale says that Santa Claus’s inspiration is buried among the ruins of St Nicholas’s Church in the lost medieval town of Newtown Jerpoint.

How did he inspire Santa Claus you may ask?

Well, the name Santa Claus evolves from Sinterklaas, which is the Dutch nickname for St Nicholas.

Santa Claus, as we know him, only dates back to the late 18th century, and the jolly man in the red suit? That didn’t appear until the mid-20th century.

While this is widely known, what's less talked about is this link between Santa Claus and Kilkenny.

Though the Marble City is said to hold St. Nick’s final resting place, his story began far away.

Born around 280 AD in Patara near Myra, he was orphaned young and raised by his bishop uncle.

St Nicholas himself later became a Bishop and was known for his great kindness and many miracles during his lifetime.

One well-known tale tells of him dropping gold down a chimney to save a merchant’s daughters, an origin of the stocking tradition.

He died on December 6th, 343, a date still marked as his feast day.

Legend says St Nicholas was buried in Myra until sailors carried his remains to Bari and later Venice; but this doesn’t explain his link to Kilkenny.

How his remains ended up in Kilkenny remains unclear, but local tradition credits the de Frainets, a French Norman family living in the locality at the time.

In 1087, the family is said to have been sent on a military campaign to the Holy Land during the Saracen conflicts.

After being defeated and forced to retreat, they returned home with many sacred relics, possibly including those of St Nicholas.

In the church ruins, there’s a memorial slab marking St Nicholas’ grave, with two stone heads thought to be him and the crusaders who brought him to Newtown Jerpoint.

With all that said, we all know Santa Claus is alive and well, already busy preparing for the big day just weeks away!

As long as people believe in the magic of Christmas, he will live on forever, this is just one of winter’s many tales.