O’Hare, Rev Donal Joseph
REV. DONAL JOSEPH O’HARE
March 12, 2017
Personal Info
- Date of Birth: 29 September 1923
- Place of Birth in Ireland: Cloghoola House, Millstreet
- County: Cork
- Education: All Hallows, Dublin
- Date of Ordination: 20 June 1954
- Place of Ordination: All Hallows Chapel, Dublin
- Ordained by: Bishop Coyne of Meath, Ireland
Diocesan Appointments
- Chaplain – Mercy Hospital, Parsons – 11/1/1954 to 5/8/1959
- Chaplain – State Training School, Parsons – 12/8/1955 to 5/8/1959
- Assistant – St Patrick, Wichita – 5/9/1959 to 9/2/1965
- Christian Doctrine Teacher – St Mary High School, Wichita – 8/1/1960 to 9/2/1965
- Pastor – St Ambrose, Erie and St Joseph, South Mound – 9/3/1965 to 7/1/1969
- Chancery – Diocesan CCD Board member – 2/28/1967
- Pastor – Holy Name, Coffeyville – 7/1/1969 to 11/28/1984
- Vicar – Dean of the Coffeyville Deanery
- Chancery – Forane Presbyteral Council Member – Coffeyville – 7/1/1970
- Chancery – College of Consultors Member – Wichita – 5/1/1984
- Pastor – St Patrick, Wichita – 11/29/1984 to 6/30/1995
- Pastor – St Anthony and St Rose, Wellington – 6/30/1995 to 7/15/1996
- Chaplain – Via Christi St. Francis for the Rehabilitation Hospital
Prior to entering the seminary, Father O’Hare studied at the Agricultural College, Ballyhaise, County Cavan, Ireland, where he qualified for a position in the Department of Agriculture.
A somber, yet interesting fact found while researching Father O’Hare, was his mother, Mrs. Rita O’Hare, died on 27 July 1969 in County Cork, Ireland. July 27th was not only Mrs O’Hare’s birth date but it also marked the seventh anniversary of her husband’s death, Denis O’Hare. Her concelebrated funeral Mass was offered at St Patrick’s Church in Millstreet, Ireland, where both of her priests’ sons – Father Donal and Father John were joined by the parish priests. Father O’Hare so loved his parents that he took his parents wedding rings and had them embedded on the base of his chalice to remember them at his daily Mass.
In the fall of 1972, several hundred women attending the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Convention in Wichita’s Century II, heard presentations given by experts on varying aspects of the theme respect for life – women, the unborn, the aged, and the poor of the world.
Concerned about the alarming rate of divorce in Sedgwick County in 1979, Father O’Hare shared his published opinion piece from the Village Vanguard. He cited that Sedgwick County issued 4,757 marriage licenses and granted 4,292 divorce decrees. In this article he stated that it takes three to make a marriage happy: “Husband, wife and God.” In order to have a happy marriage, couples must work at them through prayer and sacrifice.
Sister Connie Beiriger, principal of the grade school in Coffeyville when Father O’Hare was pastor, shared that after Father’s retirement he would come to the Sisters of St Joseph Convent on Tuesdays to visit the frail and elderly sisters, hear confessions and share stories. Sister said that Tuesdays were days when donuts were served and she told Father she didn’t know what he liked more – his visits with the sisters or the donuts which gave them both a good laugh!
