The Round Tower

The Milford Round Tower is probably the only one of its kind in the United States, and maybe even outside of Ireland in the whole world.  It stands as a unique monument to the pastor who crafted its vision and though some reports claim he never saw its completion before his own death, he did live to know its complete.  Reports indicate that he missed the dedication while en route from his native Ireland in 1896.  Fr. Patrick Cuddihy envisioned this Round Tower as a focal piece of the new cemetery, whose land he purchased in 1890 for the Catholics of Saint Mary's Parish in Milford.  Even today it is a suitable monument framed by the dark pines behind it and reflected in the nearby lake.   It is built out of Milford pink granite that tradition claimed by was discovered by James and William Sherman in 1877; however, Fr. Cuddihy was using it for his church during its construction between 1866 and 1870.  John F. Kellett, a local carpenter, is recorded as having built the staging for the tower and Patrick Ferguson, originally from Westport in County Mayo was one of the prominent stone masons along with several Italian immigrants who were skilled in stone cutting and who had come to Milford in the late 1800s.

Many argue what is exactly the inspiration for this particular tower. Many thought it came from the impressive one in Glendalough in County Wicklow in Ireland, or even from the Rock of Cashel near the area that Fr. Cuddihy grew up. However, Paul Curran, writing in the Milford Daily News on October 2, 1997 recounts that on October 17, 1893, Fr. Cuddihy visited the Boston Public Library to conduct research on two volumes, Early Christian Architecture in Ireland by Margaret Stokes and George Petrie's .  That same day he sent a letter to his former curate, Fr. John Jackman, who was then the Minister Provincial of Dublin to send copies of these two publications to him.

The Milford Gazette reported in an article on July 10, 1896, that 'But for the absence of the venerable pastor, Rev. Cuddihy in Ireland, the day who have been a memoriable one in the history of the church, the original intention being to receive the bishop, confirm a large class of children, and dedicate the new cemetery and tower, in conjunction with the anniversary observance.'  Fr. Cuddihy sailed from Boston on the Scythia in May of 1896.  Alfred Webb, who was on that same ship, detailed that while at sea Fr. Cuddihy shared "photographs of his schools and of a round tower, modelled  after that on Devenish Island, that he has built in his cemetery."  The Devenish capped round tower is in County Fermanagh on an island located in the lake named Lower Lough Erne.  The Round Tower in Milford is nearly the exact same height, and most likely its copy.  Tradition claims that the only thing in the Round Tower is an rough cut piece of pink granite from the local quarry.  This Milford Pink Granite is a testament to the man who discovered it in the quarry and who had a vision and determination to build this Round Tower.

Paul Curran writes about the question on everyone's mind, 'Why did Fr. Cuddihy build the tower?'  His answer is taken from Cuddihy's obituary in the Clonmel Chronicle of Ireland.  "When chided by a friend on the subject of the tower, Cuddihy replied, 'It may be folly - yet when you and I have passed away, the Irish in America will make a pilgrimage to the Irish Round Tower at Milford."  While many now travel easily to see the original towers in Ireland, there is something inspiring about Cuddihy's lasting memorial in  Milford to his native land that graces the final resting place of so many who came from there and unlike those of us of our modern age, they could never return.