Newtown Jerpoint, Parish of Thomastown, county Kilkenny

View of the ruined church and the walled graveyard at Newtown Jerpoint

Newtown Jerpoint graveyard is wonderfully situated close to the banks of the river Nore and the Little Arrigle river.  The ruined parish church which dates to circa 1170 is dedicated to St Nicholas.  A now ruined and abandoned town, probably established by William Marshall, the Earl of Pembroke, in 1200, was called Newtown to distinguish it from a another town that stood nearby and which is now called Oldtown.  Newtown Jerpoint is about a quarter of a mile from the famous Jerpoint Abbey which is now under the care of the Office of Public Works.  Newtown Jerpoint itself is on private land but the current owners have done much to open up the site to the general public, especially the remains of the ruined town (see http://jerpointpark.com).  The graveyard contains both Catholic and Church of Ireland burials and we recorded 49 memorials or headstones.  The Hunt enclosure has 14 memorials relating to this family with an other one just outside the enclosure. The Hunt family once owned this land and the nearby property called Belmore House.

View of the Hunt enclosure

One of the most famous tombs is a carving of an ecclesiastical arrayed in full priestly vestments which also seems to date from about the year 1200.  His hands are flat and not crossed on the breast, his head is bare and his feet which appear to be peeping out of his gown are in slippers or shoes. On the right side of the his head is another effigy carved in low relief of a human head resting on a triangular shaped mitre; another corresponding head is on the left side but minus the mitre.  This is locally referred to as the tomb of St Nicholas of Myra, also known as Santa Claus. St Nicholas is actually buried in Bari in Italy but without doubt there has been a devotion to St Nicholas at Newtown Jerpoint for centuries.  Many families in the area carry the name Nicholas which would be otherwise fairly rare in rural Ireland. It is possible that a relic of St Nicholas, the patron saint of generosity and philanthropy,  was brought back to Newtown Jerpoint in mediaeval times which would account for the continued devotion to this saint at Newtown Jerpoint.


The broken memorial said to be of  St Nicholas

Having obtained permission from the landowners, Joe and Maeve O'Connell, Bernie and I set about mapping and surveying the graveyard which at that time was fairly uneven underfoot; the grass was kept down by the efficient munching of sheep.  Many of the headstones date from the early to mid 19th century, with some mediaeval stones.  However it happened, we noticed a corner of what we took to be another 19th century fallen headstone protruding from the ground; on partially uncovering this what we discovered instead was an incised stone seeming to date from mediaeval times.  We immediately informed Joe who then notified the Heritage Council of the discovery; we realised this was a stone not listed in any of our books on mediaeval carving in Kilkenny.

 It turned out to be a completely unknown memorial incised with the figure of a monk, his feet resting on a dog. Part of the inscription, in early latin script read "Here lies Thomas Po(er?).  Pray for his soul ".  He was obviously an important personage, probably a parish priest,  as his stone lies immediately to the right of the tomb described as that of St Nicholas.    It was an amazing find.   a complete archaeological dig was later done surrounding the tomb by people from Cork University but the final results have not yet been published.

A line drawing by Bernie of the previously unknown mediaeval ledger slab



Apart from these two mediaeval memorials we located two memorials dating from the 17th century.

This is a rubbing of a broken but highly decorated and carved 17th century slab.  It reads "Hic jacet corp Oliveri Waton dns de Growe fillius....et Ellenora Purcell uxor ei q obit...." This translates as " Here lies the body of Oliver Waton, lord of Grove, son of......and Ellinor Purcell his wife who died (no date)".  This stone was recorded as being at Walton's Grove in 1903 where it was in Mr Gorey's garden at Jerpoint House.  It is not known when it was removed to Newtown Jerpoint Graveyard.  Oliver Waton of Watonsgrow, Gent died in 1620 and left a son and heir Edward Waton then 36 years old. Ellinor Waton alias Purcell died 1st April 1625.

There were a number of headstones dating from the 18th century with the dates 1763, 1771, 1774, 1771, 1779, 1781, 1788 and 1792,  There were 19 headstones with dates prior to 1850. One stone was leaning at such an acute angle that even with flash photography and mirrors to try to capture the inscription, regretfully we were unable to read it.

All the spellings are copied exactly as inscribed on the headstones; for example Baunskeha and Baunchechy are actually the same place but spelt differently by different masons when carving the stones.
The following upright  headstone to John Deleany who died in 1774 is within the ruined church. Being within the ruined church was a highly desirable place to be buried.

Note the beautiful deep clear carving, now exposed to the elements for 243 years.  And the space saving devices such as the letter "e" above the "y" for ye; and "Dep" with "ed" cut above the letter "p". All very carefully executed by the unnamed mason.  Note also the lovely bold IHS with cross and heart that decorates the top of this stone with hourglasses on each side. The letter "S" is particularly finely carved.   This is quite a high class piece of rural sculpture.

Alphabetical List of Names and plot number
Barry 19, 38
Boyd 10
Brennan 48
Brennen 41
Burk 23
Butler 20
Byrne 48
Cahill 37
Caulfield 5
Corcoran 41
Daniel 43
Deleany 46
Demspey 25
Den/Dene 47
Dooley 32
Dubordieu 5
Eagen 34
Fitzgerald 4,25
Follis 20
Greene 11
Hanrahan 27, 28
Helsham 7
Holohan see Whologhan
Hoyne 49
Hunt 1 - 15 inclusive
Ivory 31
Kavanagh 22, 49
Ke... 31
Kea...30
Kealy 19
Kerwin 41
Keva...30
Kneefe 18
MacDonald 25
Mackey 20
Murphy 34
Nicholas, Saint (supposed) 39
Po (er?) 40
Poor 34
Power 36
Purcell 21
Reade 22
Ryan 18, 26
Shortall 25
Stopford 3
Teasdale 16, 17
Wade 26
Walsh 23, 24, 27 ,28, 41
Waton/Walton 21
Whologhan 37


Alphabetical list of places mentioned on memorials and plot number
America 19, 48
Ballyhale 41
Baunchehy 23
Bawnskeha 27, 28
Belmore 2 ,3 ,11, 12, 13, 14,  16, 17,
Gavet 48
Gerpoint 47
Greenville 11
Growe 21
Jerpoint 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13 ,37
Jerpoint House 6
Johnswell 22
Jurpt (Jerpoint) 34
Kilfera 3
Kilkenny 6
Kilkenny city 9
Kilminogue 49
Monarue 38
Newtown Jerpoint 21, 47
New York 26
Oldtown 19, 25, 48
Pittsburgh 19
Raheen 43
Toronto 14
Walton's Grove 21
Waterford 11


List of occupations recorded on the memorials
Captain 6 (63rd Regiment)
Gentleman 47
High Sheriff 7
Lieutenant Colonel 7
Magistrate 6
Private 32 (5th Battalion Royal Irish Regiment)
Reverend 11, 12


List of Masons
O'Shea of Callan and Kilkenny (Memorial No 26)


Interested observers