St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York is a bastion of the Irish-American community. Its construction was begun by John Hughes (1797-1864), the first Catholic archbishop of New York and a native of Co Tyrone. Subsequent archbishops of New York, with one exception, have all had some Irish ancestry.

Hughes has been credited by historian Daniel Howe with “fostering a strong Irish-American identity, one centred on the Catholic faith rather than on the secular radicalism of the Irish nationalists who competed with him for community leadership”.

That identity is highlighted in the huge mural in four panels recently erected just inside the cathedral, celebrating New York’s Irish and other immigrant history and the US’s wider Catholic heritage.

Its principal feature is a representation of the Apparition at Knock in 1879, by coincidence the same year that St Patrick’s was opened to the public. The mural was commissioned by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has now retired as archbishop of New York, and is by the American artist Adam Cvijanovic. It is entitled “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding”.

What caused the Lorcan Murphy I knew to become a killer?

Insider tips for perfect days out in neighbourhoods around Dublin, Limerick, Galway and beyond

Andy Farrell bites his tongue on........

© The Irish Times