The first parish in Garryowen was organized in 1879. St. Mary's Church and cemetery stood together on five acres donated by Patrick Mahan, but the church eventually became too small for the growing community, and a larger one was constructed in 1904. In 1924, that church was destroyed by fire. A third church was built in 1925 across the road from the cemetery on land donated by Tom O'Connor. The people of Garryowen supported the parish until the diocese of Sioux Falls closed St. Mary's Church in 1993. The church is also remembered as a holy and lovely place sustained for decades by the love and generosity of Garryowen's living and dead, whose stories, faith, and hope of resurrection remained bound to the land.