Fr Patrick J Walsh

Birth to ordination

Patrick J Walsh was born in Springfield, Piltdown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, on November 9, 1907. He was educated by the Sisters of St John of God, Mount Mellary Seminary and St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny. He was ordained to the priesthood in St Mary’s Cathedral, Kilkenny on June 11, 1933 and arrived in Adelaide on December 27, 1933. 

Early appointments

The Diocesan weekly, The Southern Cross, reported in January 1934 that the Jesuit Father General had requested that portion of the large area cared for by the Jesuits since 1869 be returned to the care of the Archdiocese. Archbishop Robert Spence decided to divide the area into three parishes: Dulwich, St Peters (which included Beulah Road) and Hectorville (which included Tranmere).

The first parish priest of St Peters was Fr Francis J. Gatzemeyer and his assistant was Fr Patrick J. Walsh. The two were welcomed to the newly formed parish on January 31, 1934.

On July 1, 1945, Fr Walsh was appointed acting parish priest of Maitland and on February 15, 1946 he became the first parish priest of the newly formed parish of Kilburn.

This new parish was established by Archbishop Matthew Beovich when the Dominican Fathers at North Adelaide asked to be relieved of that part of their parish, known then as Chicago, which they had cared for since being requested to do so by Archbishop John O’Reily in 1898.

This was the year the Dominican priests from Ireland arrived in Adelaide, on September 18, aboard the R.M.S. Oriental. They were given the parish of North Adelaide and the church of St. Lawrence. During Fr Walsh’s time in Kilburn, he made two extended visits to Ireland: in 1949 and again in 1958-9.

The wheel come full circle

Twenty-four years later, on January 30, 1970, Walsh was appointed parish priest of St Peters where he had begun his priestly work in the Archdiocese. In 1974 he took long service leave and on January 28, 1982 he completed his appointment at St Peters, received the title of Pastor Emeritus and became assistant priest at Croydon, where the parish priest was his fellow countryman, Fr Michael Murphy.

On Sunday, December 4, 1983, Archbishop Gleeson blessed and opened Francis Murphy Villa at North Plympton. This was a home for retired priests and was given as a ‘gift’ to the archbishop on the occasion of his silver jubilee of episcopal ordination.

The first three priests to enter the villa were Fathers John O’Callaghan, Patrick Walsh and Thomas O’Rourke.

Fr Walsh died in the villa on July 19, 1991 and was buried on the July 23 in the Enfield Cemetery following a concelebrated Mass in St Brigid’s Church, Kilburn. Archbishop Faulkner was the principal celebrant at this Mass.

Revisiting the life in more detail

Fr Walsh remained in his first appointment for 11 years. He was farewelled from the St Peters parish on Sunday July 8, 1945 and left for Maitland the following weekend after opening a fete at St Mary’s Church, Beulah Road on the Friday evening.

The Southern Cross reported that at the farewell: ‘The addresses, which were highly eulogistic of Fr Walsh and his silent but most effective work in the parish, took over an hour to deliver.’

One of the gifts presented to Fr Walsh was a hand-carved ink stand from the Catholic boys of the Norwood public school. Many priests found the weekly visit to public schools, to instruct the Catholic children, a difficult task and Fr Walsh receiving a farewell gift from his charges was indicative of his success with them. In his response, Fr Walsh ‘referred to his long and cherished relations with the people of the eastern suburbs and expressed his grateful thanks for the kindness he had received at their hands’.

The farewell from St Peter’s truly reflected the man and his quiet, gentle but effective presence and manner.

Ministering in ‘Chicago’

A brief look at the history of the Kilburn (Chicago) parish is relevant as it was here that Fr Walsh performed his greatest work. In April 1929, at the beginning of the second school term, the Dominican sisters commenced teaching in the St Joseph’s church hall, the first Mass centre in Chicago. The Southern Cross, in reporting the opening of this building, gave a valuable insight into the area.

Under the heading ‘Chicago School’ came the following: Chicago lies beyond Prospect in the North Adelaide Parish. Our people there are few, but in their eagerness to possess the fullness of Catholic life they undertook 12 months ago to erect a building themselves; they sacrificed their evenings and their Saturdays to this task.

The wood and iron fibrous lined structure is now complete. It will accommodate 200 persons. Only two contracts were let in the course of construction – the electric lighting installation and the machine planing of the floor. Everything else was done by the parishioners themselves. The formal opening will take place on Sunday afternoon, September 4, at 3pm. Sympathisers with the devoted band of workers and their project may send donations to the Dominican Fathers, North Adelaide.

On March 7, 1948, Archbishop Beovich blessed and opened additional classrooms at Kilburn. The new building was a military hospital hut which had been modified for use as a school. The Southern Cross in recording the event stated: "Concluding, His Grace said he was pleased to note the spirit of friendliness that existed between the Priest and the people of Kilburn on the one hand and those outside the Church on the other. Australians had to be a united people if they were to survive. Those who tried to drive a wedge between Catholics and others were simply people who did not love Australia."

Archbishop Beovich also noted that the enrolment at the school had doubled in the past two years.

On Sunday, May 23, 1954, Archbishop Beovich opened St Brigid’s Church in the Kilburn parish. The following day, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, he blessed the church and celebrated the first Mass.

In his address at the opening of the church The Southern Cross reported that: ‘The Archbishop congratulated the parishioners on their parish priest, who was a quiet and gentle man but extremely zealous and persevering in his efforts on their behalf.’ 

With no fixed intent
What finished as St Brigid’s church began as a hall. During construction it was decided to make the change and the height of the walls was increased and other adjustments made. This led the archbishop to remark that he had heard of people commencing a speech without knowing what they were going to say but until that day had not heard of someone beginning to build without knowing what he was going to build!  

In his response Fr Walsh thanked the Dominican Fathers for their neighbourliness. He was obviously conscious of the devoted care provided for the Kilburn people by the Dominican Fathers at North Adelaide since 1898. Initially, there was no place for the celebration of Mass in Chicago, and the Catholics attended Mass at North Adelaide and Prospect. 

Fr William V. Chandler O.P. purchased eight blocks of land in Way Street on which was a wood and iron building with four rooms. This building was converted into a small hall, St Joseph’s Hall and it was here on October 29, 1927, the feast of Christ the King, that Fr Chandler celebrated the first Mass in the district. Fr Walsh deemed it to be appropriate therefore, that the last Mass in the old church was celebrated that day by Fr Antonius Costello OP.

On April 26, 1964 Archbishop J Gleeson blessed the foundation stones of a new school and a new presbytery in the Kilburn parish. On October 4, Monsignor H.B Skehan blessed the completed school. Archbishop Beovich had blessed and opened the presbytery the previous July.

Commitment to St Paul’s—first regional college
The first Regional Catholic School in the archdiocese opened in February 1959.  It was conducted by the Christian Brothers and was situated in the Clearview-Pooraka parish. However, four other parishes, including Kilburn sponsored the venture. Archbishop Beovich, at the blessing and opening of the school ‘thanked the parish priests sponsoring St Paul’s. So, as parish priest of Kilburn, Fr Walsh was involved in the development of the first regional school in the Archdiocese. 

On his return to St Peters, Fr Walsh built a $90,000 presbytery which was blessed and opened by Monsignor T Horgan on June 20, 1976. Fr Walsh also built Our Lady Queen of Peace Memorial Church at Payneham. It was consecrated by Archbishop J Gleeson on August 16, 1972.

Archbishop Gleeson concelebrated Mass at the Holy Name Church, St Peters, with Fr Walsh just prior to his retirement. Fr Aldo De Luca, who had been transferred to Hectorville, also concelebrated. During his homily the Archbishop stated: ‘I am grateful that Fr Walsh wants to continue his priestly life by working as assistant priest in the Croydon parish. 

Soggarth Aroon
Fr Walsh had followed Fr James Kelly as parish priest of St Peters. Fr Kelly died in Ireland on December 27, 1969 and there was a concelebrated Requiem Mass for him in the Holy Name Church, St Peters.  

Speaking at this Mass, Archbishop Matthew Beovich said: ‘It has been said that in these changing times the old traditional idea of the ‘Soggarth Aroon’ – the priest dearly beloved by his people – no longer has value’ and then added that it still had value in the case of Fr Kelly.  We may say with confidence that it also had value in describing the life of Fr Walsh.

A final review
Fr Walsh left home and hearth to assist the Church in Australia. We are inclined to overlook the heroism of young persons leaving their own country to minister in another land. He was a parish priest at a time when post-war migration to Australia was making great financial and spiritual demands of the local Catholic parishes. 

The Kilburn parish was enriched during this time by migrants, especially those with Polish, Italian and Maltese backgrounds. Fr Walsh was of the generation that was trained before the Second Vatican Council and had to cope with the great reforms brought in by the Council. This adjustment was difficult and some priests never seemed able to fully adjust; Fr Walsh was one who did. In working as an assistant priest following his ‘retirement’, Fr Walsh revealed an admirable commitment to his status as a priest.

Finally, Fr Walsh had a good sense of history and acknowledged the work of those who had gone before him.