The Spire is now one of those iconic figures that represents an entire city, and hence an entire country. If your feet ever lead you to the outskirts of Dublin, on O'Connell Street, you will be unable to overlook this massive steel column pointing up to the sky! The Spire was built in 1973 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in America. It stands at a height of 459 feet (137 meters), making it the tallest structure in Ireland and the third-tallest freestanding tower in the world. Visitors to Dublin are often asked why there is a spire on O'Connell Street. The answer is quite simple: It's there to mark the site where Archbishop Richard Caulkhams erected a cross as a memorial to his father, Sir Henry Caulkhams, who died in 1643. In 1854, the original iron cross was replaced by its present version made of gilded copper. The current Archbishop of Dublin is Cardinal Seán archedibald MacLennan, who was appointed by Pope Francis on February 11, 2014. He is the first cardinal from Ireland and the first Roman Catholic bishop of New York to be created since the Reformation. The Spire is a popular destination for photographers. Its unique shape is unlike anything else in Dublin, and visitors often take pictures beside it, or with it in the background.