Eileen Walker: I was born at Richmond, which is, yes, a little country town up past Windsor.

Eileen Walker: I came here when I was one and a half, which will be seventy-one years next month — this month.

Eileen Walker: It was Eileen Riley.

Eileen Walker: Well, I can remember from when I was five.

Eileen Walker: And, yeah, we were involved with, you know, neighbours, school, church, etc. So I do remember a lot from then.

Eileen Walker: No, there wasn't. Not when I was growing up. No, it didn't sort of come there till about 1950 odd.

Eileen Walker: And then it was only Nissan huts.

Eileen Walker: That was called St Peter's, on the corner of Humphries and Cabramatta Road.

Eileen Walker: Yes, down on the corner of Cabramatta and Meadows Roads, and it was an old picture show.

Yes.

Eileen Walker: Well, that would have been in, 1935.

Eileen Walker: Well, the priest would only come out once a month, so we only went to church once a month, but on the other three Sundays, we went to a dear lady's house in Hemphill Avenue and her name was Mrs Mary White and she gave us Catholic Sunday School, piano and singing and afternoon tea and a beautiful Sunday those other three times.

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Eileen Walker: Um, well. the children probably from the Catechist classes at Mt Pritchard Public School.

Eileen Walker: Of which Mrs White was our Catechist.

2:46 minutes

Eileen Walker: Yes, we were invited and would go around, maybe three or four of my brothers and sisters or however many were available and girl friends and yes, people from the catechist class. Yes.

Eileen Walker: Ahh.

Eileen Walker: He would've come from Cabramatta, and I can't think until years later and it was father Coffey. That was the first one I can remember. No, Father Coffey was Liverpool. Sorry. Keily, yes.

Eileen Walker: Maria

Eileen Walker: No.

Eileen Walker: Yes, yes.

Eileen Walker: Yes. I do remember. I do remember those names.

Eileen Walker: It was years. It was years, because I can remember going there very small, and then making First Holy Communion when I was probably about eight years of age.

Eileen Walker: Yes. No we didn't make it there, we would then go into Cabramatta to - what is the name of the church at Cabramatta?

Eileen Walker: Sacred Heart. We would have our instructions here, go into Sacred Heart, for the ceremony, if you like. No, we would have made Holy Communion down here at Mt Pritchard, but Confirmation

Eileen Walker: We went there. So I was sort of around the picture show, if you like, going to Mass and being prepared for - and then going in to Sacred Heart in 1942, I was confirmed in there.

Eileen Walker: Well, very holy.

Eileen Walker: Oh yes, because you would have adults there, And then we would have Mrs White and Mary and Ellen and we wouldn’t dare move. And, I can remember once, not wearing my hat, which you had to wear, and I can remember Mary always had white handkerchiefs in her bag or something and we had to cover our heads in those days. But very, very holy, and very um - yeah, there was no talking or eating or chewing or anything like that. Oh very, very strict. But when I look back in hindsight, it was the beginning of good discipline.

5:52 minutes

Eileen Walker: Well, we had to - it was - the school was very vibrant and of course the church on Sunday was well attended and - ah - devoted ah - but it just got - we had Mt Pritchard East estate open up and there were so many children coming in from that. And we needed more schools and we needed a church. So ah - yes - a group of ladies and myself - quite a large group of ladies - we set about fund-raising for our new church. And planned giving. And you would give - oh I don't know - maybe fifty cents a week or something. Whatever you could afford out of your wages. It was never very large. It was just something - planned giving envelope - for your church building fund.

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Eileen Walker: No, we did it all with the - well, yes and no - we did it mostly within our own, you know, raffles or fetes or something like that, and - but I can remember Father Thomas Fennell - he was our priest there - and I can remember him asconding - is that what we call the word? A group of ladies and myself to sell lucky tickets -

Eileen Walker: In at Cabramatta, in the main street there, and I 'd never done anything like that before in my life. It was a lucky wheel or something like that. So that was the - you know - the biggest thing that we did other than made things for fetes and, yes. Fund-raising.

Eileen Walker: So that was the fund raising and uh - the money that you would get in your envelope each week. Yeah, for the new church. That's it. And then um - then it was called Our Lady of Mt Carmel.

Eileen Walker: I don’t know when it was exactly. But it - I could be wrong on this one but - don't quote me specifically - unless someone else will tell you - but there was a big Italian population and you know, churchgoers, and it was requested that it be changed to Our Lady of Mt Carmel. Now, that's what I think but it could have been a Diocesan decision.

9:03 minutes

Eileen Walker: Well, that's what I sort of did hear. And Our Lady of Mt Carmel is a patron saint of Italy, so-

Eileen Walker: But I'm not sure, and as Maria has said "one day it was St Peter's and the next day it was" - you didn't think to ask. It was a decision that was made, yes.

Eileen Walker: Yes.

Eileen Walker: We were 'asconded', you know. "Asconded, I think that's the word.

Eileen Walker: I'm always saying the wrong word there.

Eileen Walker: Seconded!

Eileen Walker: Seconded, sorry.

Eileen Walker: Well, yes, there might - the men would come and help out at the fetes - because they were always working.

Eileen Walker: And, yes. The men had their duties to do.

Eileen Walker: Ah -

Eileen Walker: Yes. We would have had them, we would -

Eileen Walker: No, not like that. You weren't as social as you are these days, yeah.

Eileen Walker: Well, the Catholic area in general has always had Housie - but that would -

Eileen Walker: Well, for everything. That's a fund-raiser for schooling and St Vincent de Paul and ah - and the new school and - there's no. The men though, I have to say - the first little school was a dirt playground and I think we call it dry toilets? They were pans.

Eileen Walker: Yeah. And um - and the men would come over and clean up, you know, and wash the toilets down and - you know, maybe on Saturday afternoons or something, and clean the church out. But the women used to do that too, yes. It was all self - ah - self done, yeah. And you had to save money because there wasn't money around. Yes, so - in the sixties.

Eileen Walker: They would have been helped greatly from the - um the St Mary's you know - cathedral - diocese. And they would've been helped from that. And then the school would have been built out of the Catholic ah - headquarters money.