26 Oct 2026 8 min read

The Forgotten Irish History of New York: Now Streaming on Zeale

Now streaming on Zeale. Title card from The Forgotten Irish History of New York, courtesy of Dave Stotts / Forgotten USA.

We were honored to welcome the Forgotten USA team to the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, where so much of the Irish story in New York began. The Forgotten Irish History of New York is the newest film in creator Dave Stotts’ Forgotten USA collection, a series of short documentaries on Zeale about the people and places that shaped American history. This 22-minute episode follows the Irish story in New York across three places, beginning with the Great Famine. Starting in 1845, a potato blight devastated Ireland, and nearly two million people left, many of them arriving through New York Harbor. At the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City, Father Gerald Murray reflects on that journey, and on the faith and hope the immigrants carried with them.

The film then turns to the Basilica, the original cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York, and to the hostility Irish Catholics faced in the city: the poverty of the Five Points, the “Irish need not apply” signs, and the nativist gangs and Know-Nothing politics that threatened Catholic churches.

Across town in Hell’s Kitchen, Don Meade leads the Monday-night session at the Landmark Tavern. It is a 19th-century pub that opened when the Hudson River waterfront was across the street. With no stage, no microphones and no pay, musicians have gathered there for nearly two decades to play jigs, reels and hornpipes together. Sean O’Hare explains how Hell’s Kitchen got its name and why these sessions are the lifeblood of traditional Irish music in NYC. The film closes with reflections on faith, hope and the Irish presence in the Church today.

Who You’ll Meet in the Film

The documentary moves between four voices:

Don Meade during his interview at the Landmark Tavern. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Don Meade is an Irish traditional musician and session leader. Born in 1954 to Irish-American parents, he moved to New York City in 1976 and took up the tenor banjo in 1982. He won the All-Ireland title for harmonica in 1987 and is also known for his banjo and fiddle playing. He has been a central figure in New York’s Irish traditional music scene for over forty years, producing concert series at the Eagle Tavern, the Blarney Star and NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House. Every Monday night he leads a session at the Landmark Tavern. Up to 15 regulars bring their instruments and play together spontaneously.

Sean O’Hare shares why Irish music sessions matter to New York’s Irish heritage. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Sean O’Hare is a New York City-based social entrepreneur, media producer and philanthropist who blends documentary filmmaking with global charitable work. As founder of Grace & O’Hare Advisors, he has advised philanthropists and institutions, including the Vatican. Over the past decade he has worked with the Tim Tebow Foundation to expand Night to Shine, a program for people with special needs, to 56 countries. He has also organized programs for people with disabilities in eight countries, launched the Beautiful Lives Festival in Brazil, and led anti-human trafficking initiatives in India. He has spoken at more than 50 universities, including Duke, the University of Chicago and UCLA, and hosts the podcast The Walkup.

Father Gerald Murray reflects on the Irish immigrant journey at the Irish Hunger Memorial. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Father Gerald E. Murray is pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Yorkville and a canon lawyer. Born in Brooklyn in 1959, he grew up in New Rochelle, attended Regis High School and Dartmouth College, and entered St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie in 1980. He was ordained a priest on December 1, 1984. He served in parishes in the Bronx and Manhattan before going to Rome in 1993 to study canon law at the Gregorian University. After earning his doctorate in 1998, he served briefly as a judge on the Metropolitan Tribunal and was named pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish. Father Murray currently leads the parish of St. Joseph's in Yorkville New York.

Father Murray is a familiar voice in Catholic media. He is part of the “Papal Posse” with Robert Royal on EWTN’s The World Over with Raymond Arroyo and has commented on religious topics for outlets including Fox News and MSNBC. He is the author of Calming the Storm: Navigating the Crises Facing the Catholic Church and Society and serves as a Magistral Chaplain of the Order of Malta in the New York City area.

Thomas P. Wilkinson, interviewed in the catacombs beneath Old St. Patrick’s. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Thomas P. Wilkinson is Tour & Experience Director and curator of the Basilica Heritage Series at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. In collaboration with the Basilica, he developed the Catacombs by Candlelight tour, which he has operated for nearly a decade. He recently launched the Basilica Heritage Series, a new tour and experience initiative that includes Catacombs by Candlelight; Foundations of Faith, a faith-based version of the tour; The Man in the Shroud, an upcoming permanent exhibit on the Shroud of Turin; and Pull Out All the Stops, an experience centered on the recently restored Henry Erben Organ

Places in the Film

The sanctuary of the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (segments with Thomas Wilkinson)
Dedicated in 1815, Old St. Patrick’s was the original cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York and served in that role until the current St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue opened in 1879. In 1834 a tall brick wall was built around the church and its graveyard to protect them from nativist attacks, and it still stands today. Pope Benedict XVI declared the church a minor basilica in 2010. The film takes viewers through both graveyards, along the wall, inside the Basilica and down into the catacombs.

A candlelit corridor in the catacombs beneath Old St. Patrick’s. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

The Landmark Tavern (segments with Don Meade and Sean O’Hare)

The Landmark Tavern, established in 1868, at Eleventh Avenue and West 46th Street. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Irish immigrant Patrick Henry Carley opened the tavern in 1868, when Eleventh Avenue still faced the Hudson River. It has kept its original mahogany bar, tin ceilings and tile floors, and its third floor served as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Today it is home to Don Meade’s Monday-night traditional Irish music session. Find it at 626 Eleventh Avenue at West 46th Street in Hell’s Kitchen.

Musicians gather around a table for the Monday-night traditional Irish music session at the Landmark Tavern. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

The Irish Hunger Memorial (segments with Father Gerald Murray)

The passage into the Irish Hunger Memorial leads to a Famine-era stone cottage from County Mayo. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

Dedicated in July 2002, the memorial stands on a half-acre site at Vesey Street and North End Avenue in Battery Park City. Artist Brian Tolle created it with landscape architect Gail Wittwer-Laird and 1100 Architect to commemorate the Great Irish Famine. A raised, tilted base carries a recreated Irish landscape of native plants and stones from each of Ireland’s 32 counties. At its center is a Famine-era stone cottage from County Mayo, donated by the Slack family.

Native Irish plantings and a fieldstone wall at the Irish Hunger Memorial, a recreated Irish landscape in Battery Park City. Still from *The Forgotten Irish History of New York*, courtesy of Dave Stotts / *Forgotten USA*.

About the Filmmaker

Dave Stotts, creator of *Forgotten USA* and host of *Drive Thru History*. Photo courtesy of Drive Thru History.

Dave Stotts is a Texas-based filmmaker and on-location storyteller, best known as the host of Drive Thru History, the long-running video series produced by ColdWater Media. For more than twenty years he has traveled to historic sites across the ancient world, the Holy Land and early America, taking in more than two dozen countries and telling their stories with humor and energy. His series include Holy Land, Acts to Revelation, American History and the 20-episode Ends of the Earth, which includes an episode on the history of Christianity in the United Kingdom and Ireland. His work has aired on TBN.

This summer he began hosting The Road Less Traveled, a new EWTN Studios travel series filmed in Türkiye. It visits early Christian sites including Antioch, Ephesus and Constantinople. He also produces Forgotten USA, a monthly documentary series on Zeale about lesser-told stories from American history. Past episodes have profiled author Flannery O’Connor, the town of Steubenville, Ohio, and the Cold War missile crews.

If you’ve ever wondered why so much of the Irish story in America starts in this corner of Manhattan, watch it here: https://zeale.co/shows/forgotten-usa/the-forgotten-irish-history-of-new-york

To see the catacombs for yourself, join us at the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral.

The catacombs beneath Old St. Patrick’s, lit by candlelight. Photo: Gina & Paul Brake, Street Photography NYC.

A special thank you to Dave Stotts and Sean O’Hare for inviting us to be part of this piece, and to Bill Lee, President of Division One, New York County, Ancient Order of Hibernians, for making the introduction.