All Episodes

October 2, 2025 43 mins
Well, we cram a whole lotta information into not so much time this epsiode.  This episode takes us to New York City to visit The Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral and to Boston to visit the Old North Church.  We cover the history of these Crypts, find out when they were built, why they were built and what led to their underground storage spaces for the dearly departed.  We cover their hauntings and appearances in popular culture as well so join us for this special spooky season episode as we dive deep into the spectral shenanigans and living history of both of these beautiful buildings in another spooky season episode of the Family Plot Podcast!!

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/family-plot--4670465/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm Dean, I'm the dad.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
I'm Laura, I'm the mom, and I'm Arthur, I'm the son.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
And together we are family replied, it is officially Spooky Seas.
And however, we started celebrating early because we're just.

Speaker 3 (01:05):
Saying now spe season, I'm just I'm celebrate.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
We're just officially cool like that. We've been cool. We've
been cool. They never stopped me cool. Oh so let's
get this housekeeping out of the way, shall we. If
we must, we must some ways you can help us out.
One is through merchandise in our Tea Spring store. If
you would like stickers Stickers are.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
So Cool, or coffee months, or hoodies.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Or T shirts all with our own Arthur's unique high
fashion artwork available for you to wear or show off,
you can get that through our t Spring merch store.
If if you cannot afford our merch you can always
do just a dollar or three dollars a month through Patreon.
And remember, those who contribute even a dollar a month

(02:01):
get add free episodes of the show, while the three
dollars a month get special episodes like the complete video
episodes of our Family Role podcast, which is available for
three dollars members on our Patreon.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Plus special non bleeped episodes where we let Arthur share
all of his unfiltered considerations with the public.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yes, yes, many of the episodes that I have had
to bleep quite a bit are unbleeped for the three
dollar Patriots. Now, if you can't afford a monthly donation,
you can always throw us a dollar or two through
buy me a coffee. If you enjoy this show, something
everyone can do, please share it on social media.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Share with friends, share it with family.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
With every well, and you could also leave us a
five star review.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
I'm partial through little five star renew.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
If you don't enjoy the show, please keep it to yourself.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Weak noise goes here. In the shadowed corners of American
history lie two eerie sanctuaries of the dead, One nestled
beneath the bustling streets of New York City, the other
sealed in the hallowed ground of Boston's Old North Church,

(03:33):
beneath the basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan.
Candled it quarters wine through the final resting places of bishops,
Tammany Hall, politicians, and Civil War confidants. These catacombs, cloaked
in silence and sacred history, whispered tales of faith, power,
and forgotten legacy. Meanwhile, in Boston's North End, the crypt

(03:57):
of the Old North Church holds over eleven hundred souls
interred beneath its floorboards. From seventeen thirty two to eighteen sixty.
The church reused tombs, swept you remains into a charnel pit,
and battled the stench of deca decay that crept into
Sunday sermons. Ye me, These brick vaults, sealed and shadowed,

(04:20):
still echo with colonial secrets and spectral unrest. So light
your lanterns and steady your nerves. Today we delve deep
into our subject matter in this spooky season episode of
The Family Plot Podcast.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Okay, I just, I just I need to point out
so two eerie sanctuaries are there non eerie sanctuaries of
the dead anywhere. I'm meaning dead and eerie kind of.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Hand in hand, Not necessarily. I mean, there are tons
of graveyards that don't appear to be haunted at all.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
It's really a.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Bright and charming cemetery right there. I don't believe that
that is a thing. I'm pretty sure Urian cemetery, Urian
dead just in general, hand in hand.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Okay, my personal I could be wrong. Okay, So we're
gonna start with the New York Catacombs. Catholicism's rise in
the early eighteen hundreds in New York. There are many
reasons Catholicism was on the rise pre Famine Irish immigration.
Even before the Great Famine, and that would be the
Great Potato Famine. Irish Catholics were trickling into New York

(05:42):
in the late eighteenth century, often as indentured servants, artisans,
or merchants. Families like the Lynches of Galway arrived as
early as seventeen eighty five, bringing wealth, faith, and social influence.
By eighteen oh five eighteen fifteen, Irish immigrants made up
the largest ethnic group in New York's almshouses, many of

(06:04):
them Catholic. Religious tolerance and expansion post Revolution. After the
American Revolution, the New Republic offered greater religious freedom, allowing
Catholic communities to organize more openly. The first Catholic parish
in New York, Saint Peter's Church, was founded in seventeen
eighty five, and it quickly became a hub for Irish

(06:25):
and German Catholics. New York City was expanding rapidly, and
the Catholic Church saw opportunity to establish a strong presence.
The Basilica was envisioned as a symbol of Catholic permanence
and prestige, especially in a city where Catholics were still
a minority facing discrimination. Bishop Connolly, who arrived in eighteen fifteen,

(06:46):
was instrumental in pushing for the cathedral's completion. Born in
County Meath, Ireland around seventeen fifty, John Connolly was a
Dominican priest with decades of service in Rome, where he
defended church properties from Napoleon's forces and served as a
theological scholar. He was fluent in multiple languages and steeped

(07:07):
in ecclesiastical diplomacy. He was appointed the second Bishop of
New York in eighteen fourteen, arriving in the city a
year later after a harrowing sixty seven day sea voyage
that nearly claimed his life at age sixty four, Conley
inherited diocese with only four priests, covering all of New
York and northern New Jersey. Undaunted, he traveled thousands of

(07:31):
miles on horseback, ministering to scattered Catholic communities, founding thirteen churches,
establishing an orphanage, and introducing the Sisters of Charity like
in a show. Maybe and here they are the Sisters
of Charity.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Probably not.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Probably not. Despite his academic background and fretal health, Connelly
became a tireless builder of faith and infrastructure. He died
in eighteen twenty five and was laid to rest in
the crypts beneath Saint Patrick's Old the Cathedral, where his
legacy still lingers in candlelit silence. He saw it as
a spiritual and political anchor for Catholics in a volatile

(08:09):
urban landscape. Yes, the Silica predates the big migration waves,
Irish fleaning, the Irish potato famine in the mid eighteen
hundreds and Italians looking for relief from poverty in the
late eighteen hundreds. But it was built on the backs
of Irish settlers, post revolution, religious freedom and a church
determined to stake its claim in the heart of a

(08:32):
growing metropolis. Very nice, whoa, that's what what that means?

Speaker 3 (08:36):
It's time to go to Arthur's corner.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yes, it is time for Arthur to have a corner.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Here ye, here ye, allow me to present Arthur's corner. Hello, everyone,
Welcome back to the corner. How's it been going. How's
it going with you? Is it going with you? How's
it going?

Speaker 1 (09:09):
It's going pretty well. I'm feeling groovy.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
I'm also feeling pretty groovy. Not gonna lie. How are you?
How are you? Mom?

Speaker 3 (09:17):
I am doing my best that I can do, That's
what I'm You're very anxious.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
I hear.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
My anxiety levels have been high the last couple of weeks.
This is coming, this this, you know, this month last
year was rough and I'm not sure if that's the
reason that I'm struggling, or if it's the fact that
it was just my birthday, or if it's just this

(09:48):
time of year or what. But yes, I'm struggling, and
I'm just doing my best.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Well at least you haven't. Bracelet that's helping.

Speaker 3 (09:56):
Bracelet that my wonderful son made me and I posted
on face book because I love it so much. And
even even the author who wrote the book that this,
that that was why I wanted the Hummingbird bracelet even
liked it. So that made me. That made me excited. Yes,
and then I gave another another shout out. You know,

(10:18):
I told you the one author who writes about thyraid issues.
I had shared a post of hers and she liked
my post. I always think it's so cool when the
actual authors that I enjoy reading like actually comments on
my post, like they make time in their day for me.

(10:38):
It's like, Wow, I really loved your books and time
in your day for me. Thank you, thank you for that.
So so those were good things. I just my anxiety
levels are very high right now.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I get that I've had a lot of a lot
of stuff happened recently too. Yeah. I sleep been focusing
a lot on bracelet making.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
Yes, we enjoy, we enjoy your bracelets.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
I made bracelets for me blue, and he came and
got his last last week, I made one for Alexi. Yeah,
and I went and you.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Made this one for me, made that one.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
I haven't made any for Dad because I didn't think
you want one.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
But he has one that he wears frequently that your
sister made him. But I don't know why you wouldn't
wear one that you made him, especially if you made
him one of the cool thick ones that you make.
I think those are kind of awesome.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Oh the uh the cuffs, Yeah, yeah, the cuffs are
a lot more difficult than these ones. Yes, I would say,
but or he did both really pretty. What else is
going on? Me and my partner's anniversary is coming up
in nine days? Yes, almost here, almost here?

Speaker 3 (11:51):
There was something else that you were gonna share.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
On the same day that my me and my Partner's
anniversary comes. The Halloween update for Dandy's World is gonna
come up. Oh that I'm nding really excited about that
because there's a character that I really want and her
name is Rebecca. She's a skeleton.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Get it, rid Mecca, Rebecca got it?

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Yeah, cuot, I love her. And then there's another character
named Sylvester, and he's he's like a ghost. He's he's
like his sister. He's a ghost.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
I told Vester Solvester.

Speaker 3 (12:32):
Red Eka and Solvester.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
Nice dirty dirty punch.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, there's so many there's so many bad puns, so
many puns. There's so many bad puns in that game.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
I didn't do it. It wasn't me. I didn't have anything
to do with me.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
I also started watching I also started watching a little
like animatic type thing okay, we watched no, okay, it
was a new one. I watched it today. Lot.

Speaker 4 (13:05):
It was.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
It's called Whimsy's Rim World. It's really good. It's really good.
It sounds so bad.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
It does sound a little a little bad, but yeah,
I'll take your word for it.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
It is good, like a rim cycle. Okay.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh like yeah, like that kind of like r E M. Yeah,
got you Okay, Well that makes it sound a little better.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
It's it's such a great band are em.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, anything else, and you're gonna tell me something about
school or something I thought he had like super exciting.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
I mean, yeah, I got I got a lot of
assignments done today.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Like I don't know how many, maybe up to eighteen.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Wow, you still have that many that you needed to do.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
You have a lot.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
They're piling it on because you don't have classes, per
say so, yeah, they tend to pile on the assignments.
But it's okay, you got this. I'm hearing I'm doing it.

Speaker 3 (14:08):
We're proud of you.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
I'm not giving up. See that's the that's the thing.
You just don't give up.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
And I am so proud of you.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
He heard me talking on the phone as a teacher.
And now who's proud.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
Well, he's always proud, but waring you talking to your
teacher made him prouder.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Yeah, is that a pen sticking out over there? Because
if so, I need it. That is a p that
is And yet the white thing in that basket other side,
other side.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Oh yeah, it is a pin.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yes, this is what I need. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
Oh sorry, Arthur.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
I around myself all the time. Did we not notice this?

Speaker 1 (14:49):
No, we know anyway you were saying.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
But yeah, I've got a quite a few sigmons done.
I finished my whole creative writing course, the whole thing
pretty much. Yeah, I've got a like a couple of
long assigns that I need to have done call, but
none of them are too bad. That's good. They anyway,
I have nothing else that's interesting in my life right now.

(15:14):
Well that was a lot, except for the fact that
I got to be on call with my friends again recently,
and I've been kind of distant from them. And I
also had another therapy therapy appointment that was.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Really good this week.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
She's not going to be back next week, but the
week after next a very nice.

Speaker 4 (15:40):
It was time to get back to the show.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
Well, then if you are done with your corner, do
you want to take this next little section?

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Sure thing. Today the crips under Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral
are used for candle lette tours that teach people about
New York's caf or half calf like history. Some family
still buy vaults to bury loved ones there. A vault
for a family of six is currently listed for seven

(16:10):
million dollars and people say our patreon is too expensive. Yesh,
and the last person was laid to rest in twenty fourteen.
Inside the catacombs, you'll find the graves of famous people
like Bishop John President Lincoln. Oh wait no, Bishop John Connolly,

(16:34):
who helped build the church, and Thomas General Thomas Eckert,
who worked with President Lincoln. There's also Honest John Kelly,
a powerful politician, and members of the Delmonico family who

(16:55):
started one of the first fancy restaurants in New York.
The Delmonico's are still powerhouses of New York fine guning.
These underground vaults are quiet now, but they hold stories
of faith, power and mystery, perfect for a spooky season adventure.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, there is still a Delmonico's restaurant in New York. Yeah,
I've heard of that, so they've been around for a minute.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
Now, let's pause here and hear from some of our
fellow content creators.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Are you looking for a movie podcast with deep dives,
interviews and thoughtful film analysis. We ain't got none of that.
What do we got to?

Speaker 5 (17:36):
Hold the bucket right up?

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Hold the buckets in the chair. I will never blink.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
I'll just be there holding the bill.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Never blink.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Fine drapes mostly look like a drape desert alrp that
sweetweet puzzy.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
It is known that.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Jessica Tandy had the sweetish pussy in Hollywood.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
If you don't know, google, don't google Daska Tandies Clusey.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
You guys, don't do it.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
Don't do it. Doom Generation available anywhere you find podcasts.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
We're size of the cinema.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
I'm calling.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
I've probably don't seen it.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
Paul's watched that order.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
And I'm James, and I would put it on an
on it, And that's siding the cinema.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
We believe in the power. I'll escape as them.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Oh, thank god for that.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
I'll do it.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
Was time to get back to the show, right.

Speaker 3 (18:42):
That was awesome, So unlong the New York sewers, which
are reportedly haunted by albino alligators flushed by children who
brought a baby home after visiting Florida, only to flush
it where it came to rest and grow. A reported
grow and report a bunch of New York sewer workers

(19:06):
like R. Carneye A ka Ed Norton. The Honeymooner's reference
not at Norton from Death to Smucci. Big big difference there. Yes,
I'm really glad you'd liked the movie Death to s Muccie.
Not one of my favorites, but just always interesting when

(19:26):
you do a call out to it. Unlike the Parisian Catacombs,
thes below Saint Peter's Basilica are said to be full
of spectrual Shenanigan's great word, while no specific ghost is
known to be active, people visiting during the popular catacombs

(19:47):
by Kingdlelight tour have reported sudden chills in sealed vaults
untouched for over a century, flickering candles that behave oddly,
especially near Bishop Connolly's tomb, sawt footsteps echoing behind tour
groups even when no one lags behind and a guide

(20:09):
once whispered, you don't feel so alone down here, you
feel a company. There's even a story on Rabbit, so
take that for what it's worth. Of someone seeing a
person in the distinctive get up of dead of the
Dead Rabbits, an Irish gang that did political work, among

(20:33):
other things. For honest John Kelly, waiting in the vaults,
residual hauntings, intelligent haunting, diseased imagining, or just an over imagined,
over active imagination. You really don't know, but will faithfully
reported her.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Now, wouldn't you know it?

Speaker 6 (20:54):
A word from our sponsors, it was time to get
back to the show.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
On the night of April eighteenth, seventeen seventy five, Paul
Revere needed to know how British troops planned to advance,
either by land through Boston Neck or by sea across
the Charles River. To warn fellow patriots in Charlestown, Revere
arranged a signal to be displayed from the steeple of

(21:27):
the Old North Church, the tallest structure in Boston at
the time. One lantern meant the British were coming by land.
Two lanterns meant they were crossing the river by boat.
That night, Robert Newman, the church's section and Captain John,
pulling a vest treatman, climbed the steeple and hung two
lanterns confirming the British were coming by sea. The signal

(21:51):
was brief, just long enough to be seen across the river.
Then the lanterns were snuffed to avoid detection. Meanwhile, Revere
had already set slip past the British warship HMS Somerset
in a row boat, landed in Charlestown, and began his
legendary midnight ride warning militias in Medford, Lexington and beyond.

(22:13):
This is an iconic moment in American history. The signal
from Old North Church was the first alarm in a
coordinated sistory system of writers and messengers. It helped mobilize
colonial militias before the battles of Lexington and Concord, where
the first shots of the Revolution were fired. The phrase
one if by land too, if I see became immortalized

(22:35):
in Longfellow's poem and American folklore.

Speaker 3 (22:38):
And no, it's signed for another word from our sponsors.
Remember that if you don't want to take these breaks
for words from our sponsors, you can't sign up for
either the one dollar or three dollar Patreon subscriptions and
we'll get ad free episodes of the show for either level,

(22:59):
and it's definitely worth it.

Speaker 4 (23:13):
It was time to get back to the show.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Did I kick you while we were sleeping or something?
This is a really long section. The Old North Church,
formerly known as Christ Church in the City of Boston,
is a colonial cornerstone built in seventeen twenty three. The
Old North Church was established.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
By an Anglican.

Speaker 3 (23:39):
Colonists in Boston's North find, a neighborhood already bustling with merchants, sailors,
and artisans. The church was designed in the Georgian style,
inspired by London's Christopher Wrenn churches, with a towering steeple
that made it the tallest building in Boston at the time.

(23:59):
It's creation was driven by the need for an an
Anglican Anglican house of worship in a city dominated by
Puritan Congregationalists. It was a both architectural and religious statement.

(24:23):
The crypts were part of the original construction. In seventeen
twenty three to seventeen thirty two. The church lacked land
for a traditional graveyard, so they built thirty seven brick
tombs directly beneath the sanctuary floor. These tombs were communal,
often shared by multiple families, and stacked with twenty to

(24:47):
forty coffins each, depending on size and wealth. The Stranger's
tomb was reserved non time for non members, travelers, sailors,
and charity cases, those who didn't own pews but could
still pay for eternal rest. Does it still stand, Yes,

(25:08):
and proudly. The Old North Church is still active, both
as a historic site and the place of worship. Now
part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, it draws from
over one hundred and fifty thousand visitors. It draws over
one hundred and fifty thousand visitors a year, making it

(25:31):
one of the most visited stops on Boston's Freedom Trail,
many of whom make it a point to visit the
crypt below. By the mid eighteen hundreds, the crypts were
overcrowded with oney eleven hundred bodies beneath the church space
was running out. In eighteen forty five, the church constructed

(25:52):
a charlelhouse beneath too, thirty seven sunk eight feet below
the crypt floor. They swept older remains into this pit
to make room for new burials. The practice was common
enough that the city of Boston finally banned indoor burials
in eighteen fifty, citing health concerns, even though germ theory

(26:16):
wasn't fully understood yet. Despite the banned, burials continued until
eighteen sixty, and evidence suggests some may have occurred even later.
A coffin plate dated eighteen seventy two was discovered during restoration,
proving that rules were bent or ignored, and yes, during
this time, Mass and other services were held above the cryps,

(26:41):
with air vents and sanctuary windows allowing the smell of
decay to rise into the room. Prisoners are reportedly indurted,
though one imagines the sermons were brisk to say the
least I would hope. Are there still are those still
open for burials traditional sins? There is a twist. In

(27:06):
nineteen ninety two, the church built a modern columbarium YEP
within the crypt, allowing for the interment of cremated remains.
This columbarium was carefully constructed around the final three tombs,

(27:27):
including the Charnel House, without disturbing historical remains. So yes,
ashes can still be interred in the crypt today, but
the days of stacking coffins and sweeping bones are long gone, thankfully,
I would say.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
And now you guessed it. Another quick word from our sponsors.

Speaker 4 (27:54):
It's time to get back to the show.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Welcome back from the sponsors once again before we go
in this we do have Paytreon and every single Patreon
member gets these episodes without the sponsors, So hey, why
not join? It's not that expensive.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
Nope.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
Underneath the Old North Church in Boston there's a crypt
made up of thirty seven brick tombs that stretch beneath
the church floor like a hidden maze. Each tomb could
hold twenty up to could hold twenty to forty coffins.
That's a lot of coffins. Yeah, it is. And by

(28:38):
the time burial stopped in eighteen sixty, over one thousand,
eleven one hundred, eleven hundred people eleven hundred people have
been laid to rest there. Today, that number hasn't grown
much since the tubes were sealed, and only cremated remains
can be placed in a small columbarium added later. The

(29:01):
crypt holds everyday folks and some big names too, like
leaders from the American Revolution and famous Bostonians whose stories
are still being uncovered by historians. By historians, I know,
I was just fine. Very Beneath the Old North Church

(29:23):
there are some are some fascinating figures from American history.
One of the most famous is Major John Pitcarn Pitkiren Pitciren,
a British officer wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill
and brought to the church when it was used as

(29:44):
a field hospital. Another is known as Captain Samuel Nicholson,
the first Commune commander of the USS Constitution. Also known
as Old Ironsides, these tombs hold stories from both sides
of the Revolution, making the crypt a resting place for soldiers,

(30:05):
sailors and secrets.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
And now the final word from our.

Speaker 5 (30:10):
Sponsors, it was time to get back to the show
now too, I will read this next section.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
Okay, the church and in particular the crypt has a
definite haunted vibe. Woo sorry. Those who linger near the
Stranger's Crypt are often treated to cold spots orbs, and
many EVPs have been surreptitiously recorded in the area. Strange Also,

(30:45):
local law insists that the church itself is haunted by
no less a presence than Paul Revere himself. A YouTube
clip features a visitor saying it spooked me man to
the point where, even to this day, I'll look out
my window to see if any things roaming around. That's
not a revere sighting, but it is a vibe. The
crypt slow lighting, uneven surfaces, and sealed tombs create a

(31:09):
setting right for ghostly encounters, even if most ports reports
lean toward cold spots, strange sounds, and a sense of
being watched. The Stranger's Tomb, where non members and charity
cases were buried, is often cited by guides as the
most unsettling. No names, no records, just a vault of
forgotten souls. If any spot in Boston deserves a haunting,

(31:33):
it's that.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
So let's touch a little bit on pop culture. The
basilica of St. Patrick's Cathedral in The Godfather in nineteen
seventy two, The basilica was the filming location for the
iconic baptism scene where Michael Corleone renounces Satan while orchestrating

(31:55):
a series of hits. The juxtaposition of sacred ritual and
brutal violence gave the cathedral a cinematic legacy soaked in
moral ambiguity and whispered vengeance. Candlelit tours have inspired countless
ghost hunting YouTubers and TikTokers, TikTok creators through no major

(32:21):
though no major fictional franchises have ured into its crypts yet.
The Old North Church appears in National Treasure two thousand
and four as part of the historical puzzle, though the
crypt isn't explored. It's a frequent backdropped in Revolutionary war reenactments, documentaries,

(32:47):
and educational media, often with dramatic lighting and whispered lore.
The Freedom Trailed Tours sometimes embellish ghost stories, hinting at
hauntings without naming names.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Sorry, no, no, I believe this week it's Arthur who
goes first.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
I believe so because Arthur went last last week, last, last,
very last.

Speaker 2 (33:12):
What do I have to say about this?

Speaker 3 (33:14):
I mean, I mean we all believe in ghosts.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
Yeah, I think we all believe in ghosts.

Speaker 3 (33:19):
There was obviously lots of dead people and of these
as as. That's kind of the whole heads or tails.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
It came up heads, but it's plastic, so it just
doesn't have enough weight to take.

Speaker 3 (33:33):
Well. Yeah, here, did you want an ov fliptual quarter?

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Yes, this is much better.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
It's still heads. Yeah, I believe in dead people. I
think there's a lot of lost lives in these places.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
I mean, I mean, I mean, they're they're they're cemeteries
happy hilein Idyl resting place of Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
But okay, my idea for this episode is I wondered
if there was any place in America that was similar
to the Parisian Catacombs, and apparently there was, and it
turned up that search turned up these two places. Now,
the catacombs, the thing is is it's barely haunted. There's

(34:25):
like one ghost that people have encountered, and it's the
ghost of a guy who got lost and never made
it out right, there's ghosts here, but they're not I mean,
it's it's definitely more haunted than the Parisian Catacombs, which
is weird to me because they're much large, Right, The
bones have almost all been disinterred there, so you'd think

(34:46):
the body is being disrespected like that, and you know
that would cause a haunting, but apparently it hasn't, whereas
these are just haunted by like some of the people
in them, like Bishop Connolly doesn't like you having candles
nears too much. Apparently.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Yeah, well, okay, stuff was a lot.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
More flammable back then, maybe so, but The point is
is that it's all fine, well and good to say, well, yeah,
it's a cemetery, so it's going to be haunted. But
like the catacombs in Paris that this episode is actually
based off, is lightly haunted at best. Right, Yeah, So
to say oh, well, it's it's natural that it would

(35:26):
be haunted. Yeah, and by that logic, the Parisian Catacomb
should be. But aren't fair enough.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
I mean, I think at the end of the day,
it all circles back to it's it's kind of the
stories that actually make it out to you. I always
wonder the stories that make it places. How many stories
aren't told? Does that make sense at all? I get it,
because I mean, all we have to go on are

(35:54):
the stories that we find published. But how many people
had experience is that they just didn't share. And that's
kind of goes back to the Parisian Catacombs. It's like,
I'm sure there have been hundreds of people over the
history that have been down in the catacombs that whatever

(36:15):
happened to them, they didn't share those stories because it
didn't happen while they were on a tour. It happened
when they weren't supposed to be down there, or it
happened when they were you know, taking refuge from something
or hiding out or you know, it's all of these

(36:35):
it's all of those times where it was a one
off and we'll never hear that story.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
And that's probably true. If access to both of these
catacombs were not strictly controlled, we might have more stories
like that going on here too. And it also sounds
like the Old North Church itself is haunted, not just
its grip, because it the most common thing I found

(37:04):
when searching for that is that Paul Revere is a ghost.
There is believed to be a ghost there. So that
was just amazing to me, you know. So yeah, in
the Old North Church, but I mean we're talking about
a building that was made in the early seventeen hundred, right,

(37:25):
and then with Saint Patrick's Basilica, it was made in
like what eighteen twenty five or something because John Connolly
came over and was like, huh, this country doesn't have
enough Catholic monuments, built a few, and then he was
touring with his personal band, the Sisters of Charity.

Speaker 3 (37:42):
Again, I don't think that was a band.

Speaker 1 (37:44):
It's amusing in my head.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Okay, well, how about let's keep it amusing.

Speaker 3 (37:49):
In your head. Huh wow, Sir Mary Clarence from Sister Act,
Sister Mary Clarence.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
Ladies and gentlemen. Here they are Bishop Connolly and the
Sisters of Charity. People throwing their panties on stage. WHOA
pretty sure?

Speaker 3 (38:03):
No, pretty sure? That's a big fat now.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, it's a bit early for the Elvis reactions.

Speaker 3 (38:08):
That, yeah, just a little.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
So does that?

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Did everybody do their final thoughts already?

Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah? Pretty much. I didn't have much to say on something.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
Believe it spooky.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Spooky's a thing, and these places do make a certain
amount of sense to be to have some spookiness happen,
especially when like both of these, for the most part,
our church burial ground, so right, those who were buried
there certainly believed in an afterlife, and so you know

(38:42):
they may leave a little something behind.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
Absolutely. So that's our show, and that's our show.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Thank you for listening. Thank you for keeping us in
the good pod stop one hundred. Excuse me, I'm trying
to belch you. Sorry about that.

Speaker 3 (38:57):
It's the orange cream water you drink.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Yeah, yeah, thanks for being members of the fam. Thanks
to Blue Lexi, Laura and Arthur. And before I get
too much on I don't spend a lot of time
talking about how much either of you mean to me.
But seriously, ah with with I look forward to our

(39:20):
to our days. Not because I get to run like
that yet, I mean I like to talk. God do
I like to talk to you.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
That's okay, we accept that about you too.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
But it's my time to spend with with you, both
learning stuff and and sharing stuff and and finding out
how you feel about things that I don't think to ask.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
You normally, and we appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
But it's so amazing to see you grow up, Arthur,
into this this smart young man and and so talented
and like to hear you on the phone talking to
your teacher, you were so like I could see the
adult Arthur, and I almost cried.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
It was a you are.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
Talking not a bad way.

Speaker 1 (40:13):
And then I was talking to I want to say
it was Lisa, uh, Lisa and Phil from Yeah about
you and about just I could say I want to
go to South America and raise Islamas and have a
plan to do it, and you would be behind me.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
As long as there's internet.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
There's the internet, as long as there's.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
Internet in South America, we can raise the lamas me.
I guess there are really big spiders in South America,
but we'd figure it out.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
Point is is that it's nice to have someone have
my back, but it's also nice to be with someone
who's so beautiful, who's so wonderful. Well, thank you, who
is my friend? You're just an amazing.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
You are my friend.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
I love you.

Speaker 2 (41:09):
I love you too.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
Sorry, Arthur, didn't mean to chase you off.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Because it was making my handsquady holding it.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
Thanks to something. Bill Barrent and that last name is
spelled b e h r e n d T. Bill's
the guy that does our theme music. If you need
music for anything, Bills your guy. You can reach him
at Bill Barrant at SBC global dot net. Thanks to
Paige Elmore of the Reverie Crime podcast and her new podcast,

(41:43):
Pop Culture Pop Culture Diary, UH, and she combined her
own love of Canada with our own Arthur's artwork to
UH do some logo art for us. Thank you, Paige,
Thank you Peg. Thanks to Aaron of The Big Dumb
Fun Show, who continues to sport us locally. Join us

(42:04):
next week as we take not an early leap, but
as we go into our next spooky season episode to
discuss grave robbers and killers, Burke and hair who invented
a method of murder called burking.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Oh okay, that sounds awful, away.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
Sounds rather hair raising actually.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Ha ha ha ha.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
Bye,
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.