St. Bridget Parish sits about 10 miles east of Eau Claire and about 10 miles south of Chippewa Falls.

​

Three years after the end of the Civil War, the first recorded Mass was celebrated in a home of one of the early Irish settlers however, parishioners report having gathered since 1859. Lightning struck and destroyed the first church. The current structure was built on the same location in 1900.

​

A church hall was built in 1910, rebuilt in 1937, and after a fire destroyed it on the day of the church picnic in 1942, rebuilt again in 1950.

​

In 1960, diocesan priests took over care of the parish from the Holy Ghost Fathers. Fr. James Lovejoy was the parish’s first diocesan pastor.

​

In the absence of a parish school, religious education has always been a part of life at St. Bridget’s, and we have recently initiated a family-based religious education program.

​

The parish draws members from Eau Claire, Fall Creek, Chippewa Falls, Cadott, and other nearby communities to create the current warm, tightly knit community. The parish boasts a number of vocations to religious life, including seven religious sisters and one priest. Sr. Yvonne Hiess, one of St. Bridget’s native vocations, has served the parish since 1992 and celebrated 60 years of professed life in 2018. In 2001, the parish lost one of its former members, Patty Statz, in the attacks on the Pentagon on 9/11. She and the many veterans of the parish are commemorated in the fruits of one Eagle Scout project and there is a peace pole which is a fruit of another.