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Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral

Exterior of the church

Interior of the church

Click here for a 360° Virtual Photo of the interior!

The Catacombs

Founders of the Hospitality Industry in New York City  and proprietor of one of New York’s first fine dining establishments who catered to the likes of Mark Twain as well as many other prominent New Yorkers is buried in catacombs.

Charles O'Connor - U.S. Presidential candidate, 1872 - Legal Counsel for the Archdiocese of New York; Thomas O'Connor - Charles' father - Editor of New York's first Irish newspaper, The Shamrock; John Michael O'Connor - Captain, U.S. Army Artillery, War of 1812.

Click here to see a 360° virtual photo of the inside of one of the catacomb vaults

The Cemetery

When officials of the newly established Diocese of New York decided to build the city’s first cathedral in 1809, they selected a site at Mott and Prince Streets that was within the burying ground of St. Peter’s Church. St. Peter’s, the city’s first Catholic church, created the cemetery at the beginning of the 19th century when the graveyard around their church on Barclay Street became full. In 1801, they purchased several lots on the northwest corner of Prince and Mott streets, in the area that is now known as NoLita; an 1803 purchase of additional lots on the northeast corner of Prince and Mulberry streets enlarged the new burial ground.

John Curry, one of the 15 witnesses to the apparition of the Virgin Mary in Knock, Ireland in 1879 was reinterred in the walled cemetery on the Basilica grounds after a Requiem Mass celebrated by Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

Click here to see 360° virtual photo of the cemetery

Photos taken by L. Cabading

Sources:

  • https://oldcathedral.org/historical-points
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_Old_Cathedral
  • https://ny.curbed.com/2016/8/22/12583592/soho-st-patricks-old-cathedral-crypt-for-sale
  • https://nycemetery.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/st-patricks-old-cathedral-cemetery/