This is one of the few copies of round towers, or modern buildings reminding a round tower, existing in Ireland. The others that I found so far are George Hampden Evans Memorial at Portrane, and the one in Bruckless.
This modern round tower was built between 1855 and 1869 to commemorate the death of the great Daniel O'Connell. Beneath the tower is the mausoleum with his tomb. Following his last wishes, which have been written in golden letters on the wall inside the mausoleum, his body was buried here at Glasnevin, his heart was buried in Rome, Italy.
The tower is 51 metres tall and has a doorway on the west (275°) side, right above the entrance to the mausoleum of Daniel O'Connell. The surrounding graveyard was established in 1832 by O'Connell himself and todays it includes the burials of many important Irish people, one of them is Michael Collins whose grave is at close distance from this memorial.
The tower appears as a background element in the movie "Evelyn" (2002), by Bruce Beresford, with Pierce Brosnan.
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