Owyn and Zoee: St. Bridget's Church

Monday, May 30, 2011

St. Bridget's Church

My mom grew up in Nolan Settlement, Southeast of Solon, Iowa. I have written about some of my memories of the area before in this post. Her family attended the Catholic Church there, St. Bridget's, as did many of her ancestors. My grandparents and two uncles are buried in the cemetary there, and I have many happy memories of family gatherings for weddings and Christmas masses inside the church. The diocese shut down St. Bridget's in the late 1990s, and the parishoners bought the church and established "Friends of St. Bridget's" so that they could maintain it and keep it as a focal point in the community. I am a member of "Friends of St. Bridget's", and every year on Memorial Day I join with other family members to help celebrate its existence with a mass. We are no longer allowed to have a Catholic mass inside the church, so an alter was built in the cemetary and we bring our lawn chairs and sit outside for mass celebrated by a local priest.

Each year, a family from St. Bridget's history is recognized and honored, and this year it was the Ryan family, my mom's ancestors! We had many family members able to attend mass this morning, including my mom's 2 brothers who continue the Ryan family farming tradition in Nolan Settlement to this day. My Uncle Danny is still on the original property claimed by the Ryan clan when they setted here from Ireland. I am happy to share this history and tradtion with Owyn and Zoee.