Tag Archives: St. Patrick’s Cathedral

New murals at St. Pat’s, NYC, depict USA immigrants, Knock

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New murals depicting the 19th century arrival of Irish and other immigrants to America will be dedicated Sunday, Sept. 21, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The 12-panel installation by the Brooklyn-based artist Adam Cvijanovi also includes a representation of the 1879 Marian apparition at Knock, County Mayo.

“It’s a celebration of a city that has been built by immigrants and where immigrants have been welcomed,” Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, retiring archbishop of New York, told the New York Times. He led a 2015 pilgrimage to Knock, and in 2017 presided over the reburial of one of the 15 witnesses, an Irish immigrant laborer in New York.

I’ve requested authorized images of the murals from the Cathedral and will update the post if they are provided. Meanwhile, to honor the new artwork and mark “Half-Way to St. Patrick’s Day,” I reprise these earlier posts:

What you need to know about Knock’s vision visitors, 2017

My pilgrimages to St. Patrick’s churches, 2022

The new murals are the first major art commission in the cathedral since bronze doors were installed at the Fifth Avenue entrance in 1949. Shamrock detail from the doors.

The twin spires at night, October 2018.

Visit to Old St. Patrick’s in New York City

Over the years I’ve visited more than two dozen St. Patrick’s churches in four countries, as detailed in this special section. But one historic church eluded me until earlier this month, when I finally stepped inside the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Lower Manhattan.

As the first church in the United States dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint, it was the original cathedral of the Diocese of New York. The cornerstone was laid in 1809, and the completed church was consecrated in 1815. St. Pat’s became a target of the Know Nothings and other anti-Catholic and nativist movements. Damage from an 1866 fire was repaired two years later. By then, however, construction had begun on the larger and now more familiar St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Read more history of the first St. Patrick’s.

My wife and I attended the midday Mass at Old St. Pat’s during our recent visit. Here are a few photos:

The orange and yellow umbraculum at left signals the church’s 2010 designation as a basilica.

View from about three quarters back.

Front entrance is on Mott Street between Houston and Prince.

Mural on nearby building shows view down Mott Street with the church on the left, behind the trees. Empire State Building seen in the background at right edge of the green canopy.

Photo feature: St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NYC

This week I returned to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City for the first time since before the church’s massive exterior and interior restoration from 2012 to 2016. This year is the 160th anniversary of the laying of the church’s cornerstone on 15 August 1858.

“Great Catholic Ceremony,” The New York Times headlined its front page coverage the next day. “Intense Assemblage of 100,000 Persons”  … “Magnificent Ceremony — Unlimited Enthusiasm“. The story suggested that the proposed “ecclesiastical structure … if completed … will have no parallel on this continent.”

The church opened 20 years later, and the twin spires were added in 1888, then the tallest structures in New York. Here are a few images of this stunningly beautiful and popular worship space.:

Himself, thinner, more humble-looking than most statues of the saint.

The main sanctuary.

Shamrock detail on front doors. 

The twin spires at night.

See the St. Patrick’s Churches section of the blog for more photos and links to other worship spaces dedicated to Ireland’s patron saint.