Mother M. Paul Fielding, together with two other sisters, was dispatched from Rochfort Bridge, a branch house of Tullamore, Co. Offaly, to establish a new Mercy Congregation in Yass, NSW. They arrived in 1875. Yass would become part of the Goulburn Congregation (along with Albury) in 1907–08. Mother M. Paul Fielding established Mercy Convents in several towns in NSW. Then, in 1890, she volunteered to lead a foundation in the remote, isolated outback town of Wilcannia in NSW. It took root, and by the end of 1901, seventeen sisters were in the Wilcannia Congregation.

Eliza Fielding was born in Rochfort Bridge in County Westmeath in 1834, the third child of strict Protestant parents. Eliza wanted to convert to Catholicism after her mother's death at the age of fourteen. She experienced tremendous family opposition but was eventually reconciled. Some more family members subsequently became Catholics. Eliza entered the Sisters of Mercy in Tullamore, where Mary Ann Doyle had been the founding superior. After her profession in 1864, she returned to Rochfort Bridge Convent of the Sisters of Mercy as Sister Mary Paul.

Tullamore, where Eliza entered, was Catherine’s first foundation outside of Dublin. With Mary Ann Doyle as its first superior, it was deeply rooted in the spirit of Catherine, which Eliza absorbed. Paul Fielding (Eliza) shared Catherine's passion for establishing new foundations.

Having dealt with a fourteen-week journey from Ireland to Australia, Paul Fielding continued to face long and difficult journeys in parts of Australia that were quite isolated. In each of the places she visited, little preparation was made, and the sisters had to struggle to establish themselves. However, they were welcomed by the local people. 

Paul Fielding has a talent for administration and devising inventive solutions to the numerous problems she faced.

The foundations made by Paul Fielding were in the western areas of New South Wales. She established a strong tradition of Mercy service in remote communities, which continues to this day. "While education was and remains a key ministry, the Sisters of Mercy were to venture into health and aging care and other institutional ministries, as well as the established Mercy ministries such as visitation of jails and the sick in their homes. Their support of priests and parishioners in isolated communities was significant. All these foundations have since become part of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG).

Kerr, Berenice M, RSM. The Land That I Will Show You: History of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia 1981 - 2011. Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia, 2011.