Church of St. Malachy together with City of Clontarf to celebrate 125^th anniversary

Clontarf, MN - The Parish of St. Malachy and the City of Clontarf will be jointly celebrating their 125th anniversary the weekend of August 22-24.

In the early days, the community of Clontarf revolved around the church, which was at that time the heart of the community. The first priest at St Malachy’s was Fr. Anatole Oster. Fr. Oster was succeeded by Frs. James J. McDonald, Patrick Kenny, Lawrence Lynch, Philip Casey, Richard King and John Cooney. In 1978 St. Malachy became a part of the Catholic Area Parishes and has been served by Frs. Fred Fink, Dennis Becker, Merle Monnens, Bernie Steiner, Steve Verhelst, Ronald Huberty, and pastoral administrator Sr. Clara Stang.

In the early years of Clontarf there were two big celebrations: the Fourth of July and St. Patrick’s Day. The parish still celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with a Mulligan Stew supper and a program.

St. Malachy Parish has an active Council of Catholic Women, CCD program and Cemetery Board. The town has a fire department and an active 4-H club.

Clontarf has been famous for its hay production. Geographies used in the schools during the 1910’s and 1920’s referred to Clontarf as the "Hay Capitol of the World".

This year’s celebration will kick off on Friday evening with a concert in the church of contemporary bluegrass and gospel music by the Waring Family. Saturday’s events will include games of all kinds for all ages, food stands, historical displays, school reunion, street dance and beard judging contest. Sunday will get started with the celebration of Mass at 9:30 a.m. celebrated by Fr. Merle Monnens. Dinner will be served from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Due to the dinner being catered, advance tickets need to be purchased. A parade will follow at 2:00 p.m. and we will close by announcing the winners of the silent auction items and drawing for the raffle prizes.