In 1854, anti-Catholic mobs in Williamsburg threatened to burn down Ss. Peter and Paul Parish. Father Sylvester Malone, his parishioners, and Mayor William Wall defended Brooklyn’s Catholic community against nativist violence.
Irish
St. Patrick’s Day Parade Honors Immigrants’ Quest for Better Lives
The 262nd New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade made its annual trek up Fifth Avenue on Friday, March 17, with a rousing spectacle of bagpipes, drums, and marchers carrying Irish-themed banners.
St. Patrick’s Day Mass, Parade Triumphantly Rebound from Pandemic Hiatus
With a soundtrack of bagpipes and drums, marchers with banners and flags marched down 5th Avenue Thursday in the return of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, a long-awaited rebound after a two-year pandemic-induced absence.
Vision at Our Lady of Knock: Another Doorway of Hope for Irish Faithful
An iconic symbol of Irish Catholicism offers a sobering reminder about faith in New York City as well as on the Emerald Isle.
Modern-Day New York Guardsmen Honor Civil War ‘Irish Brigade’
On Dec. 13, 1862, a brigade of Union infantrymen, many of them Irish Catholic immigrants who had settled in Brooklyn and Queens, attacked a fortified Confederate position along the high ground south of Fredericksburg, Virginia. The so-called “Irish Brigade” comprised five regiments, three from New York City: the 63rd, 69th, and 88th.
Knock Shrine Receives New International Status on Feast of St. Joseph
Pope Francis officially announced Ireland’s Knock Shrine as an international Marian and Eucharistic shrine on the feast of St. Joseph on March 19.
John Hume, Who Helped Bring Peace to Northern Ireland, Dies at 83
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, has hailed political leader John Hume as a “paragon of peace” for his key role in bringing an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Great Irish Fair 2019
Irish culture reigned as the 38th annual Great Irish Fair took over the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island. Following the Mass and awards ceremony, a full day of Irish music filled the venue as thousands in attendance danced and sang along.
PBA Head Leads Bayside’s First St. Patrick’s Parade
Hundreds of residents lined the streets of Bayside as the neighborhood held its inaugural St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Bell Blvd. on March 24.
The Faith of the Irish
Dear Editor: Reflecting on The Great Irish Fair, we remember that terrible period in the past when the Catholic faith was outlawed in Ireland. For 300 years, there was persecution, subjugation and enforced poverty. Irish churches were closed and burnt to the ground. Mass was outlawed and priests were fugitives, hunted down, tortured and killed. The Irish people suffered greatly for their faith.