St. Bridget’s
Catholic Church

History of St. Bridget’s Catholic Church

From “Bruneau, Then and Now”, by Porter, McBride, Black, and Hall-Bailey, 2010.

“Saint Bridget’s Catholic Church was built in the summer of 1916. The contractor for the church building project was John Helgren along with many parish members working to help him. The lumber for construction was brought from Mountain Home with the hauling donated by a parish member. Mrs. Noble sold the lots to the church at a price of $200. The Catholic Extension Society gave a $500 gift to help with the expenses. With this gift, came the request to name the church St. Bridget’s.

Mrs. Addie Hawes acquired the bell from the Middle District School when it was abandoned. She had Mr. Helgren place it in the steeple and according to research it was not blessed at this time.

The parish records were kept in Nampa at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church, as the church was under the supervision of that priest. The parish care was moved to the supervision of the bishop from Boise and the records were kept in Mountain Home, then Glenns Ferry and in 1989 were transferred back to Mountain Home. The priest during the 1920’s was Father Michael. Father D.L. McElligott was the next priest followed by Father King, Father Flannigan, Father Quinn, Father George King, Father Condon, Father Frances DeNardis, Father Bill Taylor, Father Jerry Funke, Monsignor Hallissey, Father Raul, Father Julio Vicente and Father Ben Ulincott. Bishop Kelly came out to the parish to say Mass and care for the needs once a month for several years.

Early parish families included the Turner, Hawes, Crocheron, Rahn, Groves, Swisher, Harley, Pence and Black families. The first child baptized in the parish was Rodney Allen Hawes in the summer of 1917.

The Altar and Rosary Society was formed in 1922. The women of the parish were participants. Many early fundraisers for the church were dances; they also hosted bazaars and in later years saw tamale sales, Basque dances and crab feeds.

There have been many improvements made to the Church over the years. For several years, the confessionals were just curtained off; the building was heated by a wood stove, then an oil furnace and eventually electric heat. The church underwent a remodel in the late 1960s adding paneling and carpeting and moving the altar to its present position. In the 1970s the parish decided to construct a hall area behind the church where a large meeting room, kitchen, bathroom and small bedroom were added. The rooms were used to teach CCD classes and house visiting priests and nuns.

There was a large Ailanthus tree in the front yard of the church, which needed to be removed. Don Collins, a parish member, asked to have the stump of the tree left as he had a project in mind. Over the summer of 1998, Don painstakingly carved a sculpture of Saint Bridget from the stump.

In 1999, the church underwent another remodel with Hank Kilgo from Mountain Home and Rob Black supervising. All parish members pitched in and walls were repaired and repainted, new carpeting was put down and the front yard area was redone.

Parish families still gather at least once a month [present day, they gather weekly] for Mass at the church and the occasional baptism and wedding.”