Trifter

The 248th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is fast approaching, and if you’re looking for a weekend with a distinctly Irish flavor, you’ll certainly find it in New York, a city that boasts the largest population of Irish Americans in the nation.

Below are some of the landmark places you should visit during your stay in New York, and a few other ideas and ways to find out more about Ireland’s contribution to the Big Apple.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which officially opened its door in 1879, is of course named after Ireland’s patron saint. The cathedral, which is located on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets in midtown Manhattan, was designed in the Gothic revival style by James Renwick, Jr. This white marble building contains some notable features, including the great rose window at the front of the cathedral, one of artist Charles Connick’s major works; the St. Michael and St. Louis altars, designed by Tiffany and Company; and a pietá that is three times larger than Michaelangelo’s Pietá in Rome.

Celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick by attending an Irish- and English-language mass at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral on Mott Street, between Prince and Houston. St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral was New York’s first cathedral, and an important place for lower Manhattan’s newly arrived immigrants from Ireland.

The mass, scheduled for March 14 at noon, is being organized by the New York Irish History Roundtable and the Glucksman Ireland House of New York University. Readings will be done in both English and Irish, and will also include music by the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, led by Mick Maloney, a global distinguished professor of Irish Studies and Music at NYU. You can also hear the sounds of the historic 1868 Henry Erben pipe organ, which is housed in this beautiful old church.

If you don’t mind walking and you’re interested in learning more about the former “Little Ireland” neighborhood between New York’s City Hall and Houston Street, you might want to check out the “St. Patrick’s Weekend Irish New York” walking tour on March 15 at 1 p.m., which is provided by the popular Big Onion Walking Tours.