The Church of St. Mary is a parish church in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the count ...

, located at 438–440 Grand Street between Pitt and Attorney Streets on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Established in 1826 to serve Irish immigrants living in the neighborhood, it is the third oldest Catholic parish in New York. St. Mary’s will celebrate its bicentennial as a parish in 2026. The church itself was built in 1832–33, and was then enlarged and had its facade replaced in 1871 by the prolific church architect

Patrick Charles Keely Patrick Charles Keely (August 9, 1816 — August 11, 1896) was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildin ...

. The original portion is the second-oldest Roman Catholic structure in the city, after St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, which was built in 1815. p.106

History

Before their sanctuary was built, services were held in a former

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church on Sheriff Street. Rev. Hatton Walsh was named pastor. In 1831, anti-Catholic

nativists Nativism is the political policy of promoting or protecting the interests of native-born or indigenous people over those of immigrants, including the support of anti-immigration and immigration-restriction measures. Definition According to C ...

set fire to the church, but it was not completely destroyed and continued to operate. The first New York chapter of the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

was established in 1836 at nearby St. James Church partly in response. In 1832 the cornerstone was laid for the present building, which was dedicated in June 1833. Rev. William J. Quarter, curate at St. Peter's on Barclay Street, was named pastor. Quarter would later become the first bishop of Chicago. Originally designed in the

Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, the new red brick facade designed by Patrick Charles Keely in 1864 was in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

and featured twin spires. Other changes were made by Lawrence O'Connor in 1871. The Irish-American prelate, Rev. Michael McKenna, who had ties to Irish nationalist movement, was assistant pastor here in 1868 before becoming the first pastor of the newly separated – from St. Mary's parish – parish of

St. Rose of Lima Rose of Lima, TOSD (born Isabel Flores de Oliva; 20 April 1586 24 August 1617) (, ), was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, Spanish Empire, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the pover ...

.Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor,
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.
'. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.369.

Charles Edward McDonnell Charles Edward McDonnell (February 1, 1854 – August 8, 1921) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Brooklyn from 1892 until his death in 1921. Biography Charles McDonnell was born in Manhattan to C ...

, future Bishop of Brooklyn, was assigned as curate here in the autumn of 1878.

References

Notes

External links

*
Parish website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, New York City Religious organizations established in 1826 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Romanesque Revival church buildings in New York City Roman Catholic churches completed in 1833 Patrick Keely buildings Lower East Side 1826 establishments in New York (state) 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States