Is Santa buried in this Irish grave?

The ruins of Jerpoint Abbey do not look like the final resting place of the world’s best-loved man (at this time of year at least).

But it is here in County Kilkenny, Ireland, amid fallen stones, scrubby bushes and beneath a well-worn slab, that the bones of the real Father Christmas are said to lie.

“It is an amazing story and yet very few people know about St Nicholas’s connection to this country,” says local historian Philip Lynch. “Every year now we get visitors to the site, but still not that many.

“There is a great story about a notorious old miser. He never gave the children any Christmas presents, instead he delighted in bringing them to Jerpoint and showing them Father Christmas’s grave.”

The legend of Santa Claus - who magically leaves presents in stockings at Christmas as children sleep - has its roots in a real man.

St Nicholas of Myra, the 4th-century Bishop of Lycia in modern-day Turkey, was renowned for his extraordinary generosity and was venerated as a living saint. Born into a wealthy family, his parents died when he was young and Nicholas dedicated his life to serving God. Following Jesus’s instruction to “Sell what you own and give the money to the poor,” he spent all his inheritance helping the needy, sick and suffering.

He soon became famous for his generosity and, thanks to countless anonymous gifts to the poor, was known as a miracle worker, giving presents every year to those who lived a devout and Christian life.  Read Article

By Tom Prendeville and Dominic Utton