The Bell Tower

this article was originally published in the parish bulletin the weekend of September 29, 2019

In its article on the dedication of Saint Mary’s Church in 1872, The Milford Journal notes that a granite bell tower for the church was planned.  It would be octagonal in design, stand independent of the present church structure and house the bell that had been cast in Ireland and donated by Fr. Cuddihy.  It was estimated at a cost of $15,000 to $20,000.  On January 23, 1887, Fr. Cuddihy announced that work would begin on the tower at the east portico of the church, was estimated to cost $10,000 and that the proceeds of the upcoming parish fair and collections would be dedicated to its expense.  Plans announced in the local paper on February 9, 1887, stated that the tower would be 100 feet in height, with the bells at the level of the roof at its peak and there would be three tiers of elaborate windows with one large east facing window, “which would be specifically magnificent in its artistic design and finish.”

Cast at the Luke Murphy & Sons Foundry in Dublin, the bell almost never made it to Milford.  Intended to be carried across the Atlantic Ocean onboard the ‘Tripoli,’ the ship struck the Tuscar Rock off Rosslare Harbor in Wexford, Ireland.  The bell was subsequently salvaged and shipped again.  This time it arrived safely in Milford in May of 1872 and was displayed at the parish’s annual picnic in Granite Grove that year.  It is decorated with the national emblems of the Emerald Isle, a round tower, a harp and the wolfdog, along with the name of Fr. Cuddihy and Saint Mary’s Parish.  At the groundbreaking for the tower, the bell was housed in a wooden structure that stood next to the church and at the south eastern end, just outside the sacristy.

The construction of the tower had a minor obstacle that summer.  The local newspaper details in August that there was a strike by the granite cutters who were working ten hour days and were demanding double pay for their tenth hour.  Fr. Cuddihy agreed to the demand, and the work resumed the very next day.  An article in The Milford Journal from May 2, 1888, records that the tower was progressing at a rate of “12 feet per month.” 
 

This photograph was taken at the groundbreaking for the bell tower in the spring of 1887.  Someone had climbed the pre-existing tower for the bell which was a scaffolding at the south eastern corner of the church near the sacristy.  Take note of the side entrance that was removed for the tower’s construction, the lack of a side entrance for the lower church and finally the houses across the street.  These houses are still there in 2019.  Though it is a bright sunny day, and the photograph is busy you can make out that people are dressed in their Sunday best; men with straw hats and women with umbrellas or parasols to protect them from the sun.
The photo is from the Robin Philbin collection and was published with an article by Paul Curran in the Milford Daily News on September 30, 1999. 

this article was originally published in the parish bulletin the weekend of October 6, 2019

This was built with a strong foundation, walls that were seven feet thick, the thickness tapering to be about three and one half feet at the level where the bells would be housed.  Plans were for it to stand 107 high from the ground with the landing for the bells to be 20 to 30 feet from the roof of the tower.  When completed, it was expected to have a weight of 3,000 tons.

On March 31, 1890, a second bell, this one at 62 inches and weighing 5,000 pounds arrived on site.  This bell was cast by the McShane Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland and was a personal gift to the parish from Fr. Cuddihy.  On April 27, 1890, it was consecrated by Bishop O’Reilly of Springfield in honor of Saint Francis.  On April 29^th, there was a special banquet with Bishop Reilly, hosted by Fr. Cuddihy to celebrate the completion of the tower and therefore, the installation of the bells.

It would be a century and a quarter later, between 2016 and 2017 when this tower would be repointed, the roofing repaired and subsequently in 2018 that the bells would be electrified.  These repairs included the fabrication of a new custom yoke to replace the original which had broken in nearly a century and a half of use along with the installation of a digital clock and mechanism to chime the hour and half hour along with the angelus and call the faithful to Mass fifteen minutes before a scheduled Mass time.  The digitization of the bells was a gift from the Pyne and Kennelly families to honor their parents, George & Roseleen Pyne and Robert & Janice Kennelly.  That the ‘Bells of Saint Mary’s’ would ring out across downtown Milford again has been received with great delight.

This photograph shows the church is it most famously known with the bell tower in its southwestern corner, and as it mostly appears even until today.  Oone difference is the side entrances both to the upper and lower church which were added in the 20th century and not present in this photo.  The building to the right of the church was the Parish House, later the convent, demolished in the 1950s for the current Parish Center.