Some of Ireland’s most amusing medieval sculpture

Jerpoint Abbey was founded by Donal Mac Gillapatrick, King of Ossory in 1158, and soon after it was colonized by the Cistercians from Baltinglas in 1180. It is notable for its amusing sculpted figures on its cloister arcades. These carvings are oddly humorous and depict knights, ladies, bishops, dragons, and even a man with a stomach ache! Jerpoint became the motherhouse for the Abbeys in Kilkenny and Tipperary and was affiliated with the Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. It became the chosen place to be buried for all the great families in this area so have a look at some of the impressive headstones. It flourished until the ‘Dissolution of the Monasteries’ after which it was granted to James Butler, Earl of Ormond in 1541.