The Flogging Molly is Irish-American seven-piece Celtic punk band formed in Los Angeles in 1995, led by Irish vocalist Dave King. According to legend, the Irish punkers got their start playing every Monday night at an Irish pub in Los Angeles called Molly Malone’s. They played there so often that lead singer Dave King said it was like flogging a dead horse, and next thing you know, a band name was born. (Source: Dying Scene)
@YouTheReader this is a great tune to cap off Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. Nothing like some good music in the background of great company and good Guinness!
With it being Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, last Saturday I figured it would be topical to check out the Original Saint Patrick Cathedral of NY & United States. Catholics in New York had a rough go at the start of the United States’ formation. It was simply not safe to openly practice Catholicism and those who did face a ton of hatred. The British left New York in 1783 and the anti-priest law was repealed in 1784. An Irish Capuchin friar Charles Whelan arrived in the city to help organize what would become the first Catholic parish in the independent United States, it was called St. Peter’s Church in 1785. At that time there were only about 1,000 Catholics in the NYC community, which meant the Irish only made up less than 1% of the NYC populating land along with the majority of English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German descent. (Source: My Sloppy Scribble Notes & some help from OldCathedral.org)
Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral is located in the Nolita neighborhood of NYC. Picturesque Nolita is a charming, upscale area and trendy spot. Back in 1800, it was the middle of the forest as NYC was still undeveloped. The property where Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral stands was originally bought for burial grounds for Catholics. Between 1809 and 1815, Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral was built. It was the first Cathedal built in NY.
Morbid fun fact: did you know that the tall monument stone pictured above actually has a staircase underneath them with sealed vaults? Back in the early 19th century, if people were buried in normal stone graves, many times people would steal the possessions of the dead, thus the tall monument stone could ensure that families could be buried together. If you think this is pretty dark, whatever you do, don’t then google Washington Square Park. That beautiful monument was the original potter's field of NYC. There are thousands of dead people buried under there.
In 1834, brick walls were constructed around the perimeter of the Church and cemetery. These barriers were laid brick by brick for the aesthetically pleasing display. They were put up for protection to keep the Gangs of NY out. The Church and cemetery actually had quite a few conflicts that included torches and mob mentality toward Catholics. The Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish Catholic fraternal organization that marches every March, fought with muskets against Nativists on Chuch grounds. Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral wasn’t just a place where people could practice their own religion, it was in some sense, a home base safe haven for Catholics.
One of the prominent people to be buried at Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral is Pierre Toussaint. Toussaint, born in Haiti in 1766, was brought as a slave to New York in 1787. When his owners fell upon hard times, he became a successful hairdresser, at the same time quietly waiting on and supporting the household. After the death of his owners, the former slave purchased his wife’s freedom and became a leader of the free black community in New York. (Source: Old Cathedral) Pierre Toussaint was the best hairdresser of his day. He did the hair of many prominent NYC women, such as Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the wife of Alexander Hamilton. Toussaint made quite a pretty penny from hairdressing the elite and was able to buy his family their freedom. He became a philanthropist and dedicated his life to helping newly freed slaves learn in schools. He opened up both Catholic schools and orphanages for those in need. Toussaint went to church at Saint Peter’s for sixty-six years and was said to have never missed a Sunday mass. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in 1853. While his stone still stands at Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral, his remains were moved to St. Patrick’s Cathedral uptown as the first step in the cause for his beatification. He is the first and only black American to be buried at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral believes Pierre Toussaint should be the 1st Black Saint of North America.
Buried right on the steps of the Church is the Third Bishop of New York, John Dubois. Dubois was originally from France and with the majority of the Catholic parish at Saint Patrick’s being Irish, he felt like an outsider. He felt that many people disrespected him and that despite being an extremely successful priest, he felt walked over. Right before he passed away he was quoted in essence stating bury me on the Church steps so that I can be walked over when I die just as I was when alive. @YouTheReader be careful about what you wish for!
In the next part of the tour, we learned about Father John “Dagger” Hughes, an Irish immigrant gardener who became the first Catholic archbishop of New York. Hughes was told he was not smart enough to become a priest and would go on to be one of the most important Catholics in NYC history. He put an end to the Five Points Nativists’ attacks on Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral as well as other Catholic parishes. He straight up walked right into the NYPD Commissioner's Office and said for every Catholic Church that is “burned to the ground, I will see to it that 10 times the amount of Protestant Churches are as well.” This gave John Hughes the nickname “Dagger” because he was willing to take matters into his own hands. Some of the Nativists that Hughes was up against in his day were John Jay, John Quincy Adams, John Calhoun, Stephen Douglas, and P. T. Barnum. Hughes would build some very important Catholic institutions in NYC. He founded Fordham University as St. John’s College in 1841 and considered his ambitious plan for Catholic higher education a “daring and dangerous undertaking.” (Source: Fordham University) John Hughes was also responsible for the Catholic Church buying up land in the middle of the woods of Manhattan at a spot that is now just a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center. At the time of the purchase, many people were skeptical of John Hughes and roasted him for “building a Church in the middle of the woods.” It is safe to say that John Dagger Hughes got the last laugh as Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Uptown seems to be perfectly located in the heart of New York City.
For the Italian-Americans reading, yes this Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral was where they filmed the Godfather Chuch scenes. A disaster of tragic proportions struck on the night of October 6, 1866, when a catastrophic fire destroyed all but the outer walls of the Old Cathedral. The exterior of the Old Cathedral now is not the original. Everything was burned but the stone walls of the Church. With everything up in flames, the interior of the Old Cathedral went with it. Luckily for the Old Cathedral, when the Uptown Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was being built, the same stained glass workers and artists were able to provide the Old Cathedral with its beautiful interior.
@YouTheReader if you’re ever in the neighborhood and hear some bah-ing in the middle of NYC, you’re not losing your mind. The Old Cathedral has sheep from farms in Upstate NY landscape the burial grounds during the warmer months. Pretty cool!
Now on to the Catacombs…
New York’s First Cathedral: The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, is the burial grounds of some prominent NYC Catholics…
Abraham Lincoln grew to trust Eckert and on April 14, 1865, wanted him to act as his bodyguard when he visited the Ford Theatre to see Our American Cousin. Imagine if Eckert was with Lincoln on April 15, 1865. Think about how different U.S. history might look.
Countess Anna Leary bought up housing in which she would help Italian immigrant women assimilate into NYC. The housing took place around where the World Trade Center is located today.
The famous Delmonico Steakhouse changed the NYC Restaurant Industry for the better. They invented dinner dishes such as Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska and Chicken A la Keene
….And of course, the Catacombs are also where Tom Brady has gone to retire…
Our tour guide, Leslie, was awesome. She had an answer to everything and made the tour very fun.
@YouTheReader I would highly recommend going on the Candlelight Catacombs Tour at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral!