The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, sometimes shortened to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral or simply Old St. Patrick's, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish church, a basilica, and the former

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

of the

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

, located in the Nolita neighborhood of

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

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 ...

. Built between 1809 and 1815 and designed by

Joseph-François Mangin Joseph-François Mangin was born on June 10, 1758, in Dompaire, in the Vosges region of France. He was a French-American architect who is noted for designing New York City Hall and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City. He died in 1818 ...

in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

,, p. 236 it was the seat of the archdiocese until the current St. Patrick's Cathedral in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

opened in 1879. ''See also:'' 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, pp. 303–307. Currently, liturgies are celebrated in English, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese. The church is at 260–264 Mulberry Street between

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

streets, with the primary entrance on

Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...

. Old St. Patrick parish merged with Most Precious Blood parish, and the two churches share priests and administrative staff. The Old St. Patrick's church building was designated a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...

in 1966, and the cathedral complex was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1977. It was declared a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 2010.

History

The first Catholic parish church in New York City was St. Peter's on Barclay Street, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1785. By the early 19th century,

Anthony Kohlmann Anthony Kohlmann (born Anton; July 13, 1771 – April 11, 1836) was an Alsatian Catholic priest, missionary, theologian, and Jesuit educator. He played a decisive role in the early formation of the Archdiocese of New York, where he was ...

, the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

rector of that church, realized that the city's growing Catholic population needed both a second sanctuary and a cathedral for the first bishop, since the city had been made a see in 1808.Burrows & Wallace, pp. 480–481 The site he selected for the new church was being used as a cemetery for St. Peter's, and was well outside the settled area of the city, surrounded by farmland and the country houses of the rich. The architect chosen was Joseph-Francois Mangin, who had co-designed New York's

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

with

John McComb Jr. John McComb Jr. (1763–1853) was an American architect who designed many landmarks in the 18th and 19th centuries. Between 1790 and 1825, McComb was New York city's leading architect. Early life and education McComb Jr. was born on October ...

, construction on which was ongoing when the cornerstone of St. Patrick's was laid on June 8, 1809. Construction took just under six years, with the sanctuary being dedicated on May 14, 1815. In that same year, John Connolly, an Irish Dominican friar, arrived to take office as the city's first resident

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. When complete, the church was the largest in the city. Its outer dimensions are 120 by 80 feet, and the inner vault is 85 feet high (37m x 24m x 26m). Until 1830 the cathedral was the ending place of New York's annual

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...

parade. After that, it ended further south along Mott Street at the

Church of the Transfiguration The Church of the Transfiguration (, ) is a Franciscan church located on Mount Tabor in Israel. It is traditionally believed to be the site where the Transfiguration of Jesus took place, an event in the Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upo ...

, whose pastor,

Felix Varela Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

, was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

political refugee from Cuba. In New York, he served as the chaplain off the Hibernian Universal Benevolent Society.Burrows & Wallace, pp. 543–546 Eventually, the parade moved uptown to pass in front of the new St. Patrick's Cathedral (1879). In 1836, the original cathedral was the subject of an attempted

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

after tensions between Irish Catholics and

anti-catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

Know-Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock nativist political movement in the United States in the 1850s. Members of the m ...

nativists led to a number of riots and other physical confrontations. The situation worsened when a brain-injured young woman,

Maria Monk Maria Monk (June 27, 1816 – summer of 1849) was a Canadian woman whose book ''Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk,'' or, ''The Hidden Secrets of a Nun’s Life in a Convent Exposed'' (1836) claimed to expose systematic sexual abuse of nuns and infa ...

, wrote a book telling her "true" story – a Protestant girl who converted to Catholicism, and was then allegedly forced by nuns to have sex with priests, with the resulting children being baptized then killed horribly. Despite the book being debunked by a mildly anti-Catholic magazine editor, nativist anger at the story resulted in a decision to attack the cathedral.

Loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow vertic ...

s were cut in the church's outer walls, which had just recently been built in 1834, and the building was defended from the rioters with

muskets A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

. Afterwards, 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 ...

established its headquarters across the street from the church. In 1838, the cathedral was the location for the funeral of

Lorenzo da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italians, Italian, later American, opera libretto, librettist, poet and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Wolfgan ...

, Mozart's primary

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, who had fled to America in 1805 fearing bankruptcy. He became a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and started what eventually became the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. The funeral was attended by an enormous number of people. On October 13, 1859, the cathedral was the venue for the lavish wedding of the 55-year-old Don Esteban Santa Cruz de Oviedo, an immensely wealthy Cuban landowner and slave-owner, to the 18-year-old socialite, Frances Amelia Bartlett, daughter of

Washington Allon Bartlett Washington Allon Bartlett (''c.'' 1816 – February 6, 1865) was the first U.S. citizen to serve as alcalde of Yerba Buena/San Francisco, appointed by the military government during the Mexican-American War and serving from August 14, 1846, to ...

, the family of whom was residing on 14th Street. The marriage was heralded by the press as "The Diamond Wedding," after the luxurious preparations were revealed, including opulent gifts of jewelry by the groom. It also sparked public debate and mockery over the issue of May–December unions. On October 7, 1866, the cathedral was gutted by a fire that spread from a nearby shop. Even though the new St. Patrick's was already under construction, the old cathedral was restored under the direction of architect

Henry Engelbert Henry Engelbert (1826–1901) was a German-American architect. He was best known for buildings in the French Second Empire style, which emphasized elaborate mansard roofs with dormers. New York's Grand Hotel on Broadway is the most noteworthy ext ...

. The first Mass was celebrated in the rebuilt cathedral on April 1, 1867. The new Old Cathedral was reopened in 1868. Since the current St. Patrick's Cathedral opened in 1879, St. Patrick's Old Cathedral has been a parish church, the pastor residing in the old Bishop's House at 263 Mulberry Street. Today's multi-ethnic parish includes the territory of the former Most Holy Crucifix Parish, whose church for a time was the nearby Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz and housed the Filipino Catholic Apostolate for the

Cathedral complex

St. Patrick's Old Cathedral School at 32 Prince Street, across from the cathedral, predates the church itself. It was built in 1825–1826 as the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, operated by the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...

. In 1851, the asylum became for girls only, and in 1886 became St. Patrick's Convent and Girls School, before turning

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

again. The

Federal-style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

building is a

, designated in 1966. The school finally closed in 2010 as enrollment dwindled, and the building was converted into residential and office space. In 1859, a "Gingerbread Gothic" Chancery Office Building was built at 266 Mulberry Street, just north of the sanctuary, designed by

James Renwick Jr. James Renwick Jr. (November 11, 1818 – June 23, 1895) was an American architect known for designing churches and museums. He designed the Smithsonian Institution Building in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick's Cathedral (Manhattan), St. Patric ...

and William Rodrigue, who would go on to design the new cathedral.NYCLPC, p. 43 The building would later become St. Michael's Chapel and, from 1936 until 2019, St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite. St. Michael's is the last

Russian Catholic The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Historically, it represents both a movem ...

church in New York City, and was one of only four remaining such sanctuaries in the United States. Those services are now held at the Church of St. Catherine of Siena, 411 East 68th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. EckertCrypt

Underneath the basilica are

catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

which currently consist of 35 family crypts and 5 clerical vaults, and which have reopened to new interments. The basilica has also opened the catacombs to walking tours. Among the notable interments are the first resident Bishop of New York John Connolly, General

Thomas Eckert Thomas Thompson Eckert (April 23, 1825 – October 20, 1910) was an officer in the U.S. Army, Chief of the War Department Telegraph Staff from 1862 to 1866, United States Assistant Secretary of War from 1866 to 1867 and an executive at Western ...

, several members of the

Delmonico Delmonico steak () is one of several cuts of beef (usually ribeye), cut thickly as popularized by Delmonico's restaurant in New York City during the mid-19th century. The term applies to the cut, not its preparation. In the mid 19th century ...

restaurant family,

Countess Annie Leary Annie Leary, Countess of the Holy Roman Church (1832 – April 26, 1919) was an American Papal countess, prominent society figure, and philanthropist in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century New York City. Early life Annie was born in 1832 ...

, the prominent wine merchant Dominick Lynch, and Congressman John Kelly. In addition, two New Yorkers who are currently on the road to sainthood, Pierre Toussaint and Father

Isaac Hecker Isaac Thomas Hecker (December 18, 1819 – December 22, 1888) was an American Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and founder of the Paulist Fathers, a North American religious society of men. Hecker was originally ordained a Redemptorist priest in ...

, were originally interred there before being moved; Toussaint to the new St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Hecker to St. Paul the Apostle Church. The founding mother superior of New York's first Sisters of Mercy convent, Mary Agnes O'Connor, is also buried there. OldStPatricksOrgan

Old St. Patrick's Cathedral gallery holds a large

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

that was built in 1868 by Henry Erben, originally operated without any use of electricity. After the new cathedral opened uptown in 1879, the Erben organ was left downtown with minimal alterations. In 2004, the

Organ Historical Society The Organ Historical Society is a not-for-profit organization primarily composed of pipe organ enthusiasts interested in the instrument's design, construction, conservation and use in musical performance. Formed in 1956, the headquarters moved fr ...

designated it as an instrument of "exceptional historical merit, worthy of preservation", the organ equivalent of national landmark status. The instrument remains in use for Sunday services while awaiting further restoration.

Gallery

File:St. Patrick's Old Cathedral Mulberry Street entrance.jpg, Mulberry Street entrance File:Old St Pats Mott St East door jeh.jpg, Mott Street entrance File:Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral - Interior 01.jpg, Interior File:OldStPatricksAltar.jpg, Altar File:St. Michael's Russian Catholic Church.jpg, Former Chancery File:Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral 06.jpg, Cemetery File:CemeteryOldStPatricks.jpg, alt=Grave plots in the cemetery at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral., Alternate view of cemetery File:PierreToussaintGrave.jpg, Grave of Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) File:St. Patrick's Convent and Girls' School.jpg, Former School

References

Bibliography

* * Feighery, Kate. " 'Everything Depends on the First Year': Archbishop John Hughes and his Fundraising Plan for St. Patrick's Cathedral." ''American Journal of Irish Studies'' 12 (2015): 57–76. (online} *

External links

Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, New York 1815 establishments in New York (state) 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Basilica churches in New York (state) Cathedrals in New York City Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Federal architecture in New York City Former cathedrals in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Henry Engelbert buildings Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state) Irish-American culture in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan New York State Register of Historic Places in New York County Nolita Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Roman Catholic churches completed in 1815 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Stone churches in New York City