MovieChat Forums > Gangs of New York (2002) Discussion > St. Patrick's church?

St. Patrick's church?

posted 8 years ago by suzannamc
4 replies | jump to latest

Was that St. Patrick's Cathedral they built?

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] amcalabrese-1 8 years ago

I believe it is referring to Old Saint Patrick's, the original cathedral (now a parish church) in Nolita. As part of the mixing up of the timeline in the movie, the actual church was damaged in 1866 and repaired after. At times, it was besieged by nativists and was defended by musket bearing Irishmen.

[–] brutuslignarius 8 years ago

And the scene with the Know Nothings marching on the Cathedral really happened in 1836, not 1863.

[–] amcalabrese-1 8 years ago

Generally the whole "Know Nothing" part of the story line was misplaced. While nativism has always existed in American politics, the American Party (ie the Know Nothings) were pretty much gone by the Civil War, as the issue of preservation of the Union or secession overshadowed all other issues.