Manhattan - Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral

A Brief History: Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral is located at 263 Mulberry St New York, NY 10012. The Dioceses of NY was created. 1809 the Catholic community convinced the bishop to build the Cathedral of New York under the name of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick. The original structure was built in 1809 but on the night of October 6, 1866, old historic St. Patrick’s on Mulberry Street was destroyed by fire; the Cathedral was rebuilt within the four original walls that remained and dedicated on Saint Patrick’s Day 1868. The cornerstone was laid in 1875, on October 22 to November 30th 1878, which was the “Fair,” that the people had to raise money to open St Patrick’s Cathedral. On 1879 the church finally was open to the public. St Patrick’s Cathedral was “created to affirm the ascendance of religious freedom and tolerance.” When the Cathedral first opened, Archbishop Hughes Mission Statement was: “for the glory of Almighty God, for the honor of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin, for the exaltation of Holy Mother Church, for the dignity of our ancient and glorious Catholic name, to erect a Cathedral in the City of New York that may be worthy of our increasing numbers, intelligence, and wealth as a religious community, and at all events, worthy as a public architectural monument, of the present and prospective crowns of this metropolis of the American continent. In 1979 The Cathedral celebrated 100 years in service. In 2008 Pope Benedict XVI became the first Pope to celebrate a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Haunted History: People say that the ghost of runaway slave and hairdresser, Pierre Toussaint haunts Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. There is a legend that ” Bishop Dubois still can not leave his parish and is seen regularity in the church. His body is buried at the entranceway of Old St. Patrick’s. According to The Bowery Boys, St Patrick’s Cathedral has a tale about an apparition of a Haitian hairdresser that roams in the crypt.