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Full Title
In times of peril : leaves from the diary of Nurse Linda Kearns from Easter week, 1916, to Mountjoy, 1921 / edited by Annie M.P. Smithson.
Author
Kearns, Linda.
Contributor
Smithson, Annie M.P. De Valera, Eamon, 1882-1975.
Date Added
4 February 2016
Format
Book
Language
English
Publish Date
1922
Publisher
Dublin : Talbot Press ; London : T. Fisher Unwin Ltd.,
Source
Joseph McGarrity Books.
Topic
Kearns, Linda. Prisoners > Ireland > Diaries. Nurses > Biography. Ireland > History > Easter Rising, 1916.
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OCR
38 IN TIMES OF PERIL.
convict dress, and given some awful tea, with bread
and margarine, which I could not touch. I felt really
ill, my head was aching frightfully, and I was com-
pletely worn out. I asked for permission to go to
bed, and it was granted, and I remained in bed with
bad indigestion and general nervous debility for four
days. The doctor visited me, and ordered me a dose
of castor oil! The wardress brought it to me, and
poured it straight from the bottle into a mug-cold
and thick and nauseating-and expected me to
swallow it down at once, without even a drink of
water after it. Of course I could not manage to
drink it. The next day I was moved to hospital, and
remained there for a couple of weeks. On my return
to the prison I was weighed, and was 10 st. 9 lbs.,
but at the end of two weeks was only 9 st. exactly. I
can recommend Walton as a good anti-fat establish-
ment!
That first fortnight in Walton Jail was the very
worst part of my time in prison. Everything about
me-my surroundings, atmosphere, food, the hate-
ful dress-all seemed simply awful. Tears are very
near my eyes even at this moment, when, thank
God, the seas divide me from the horrors of an
English prison, but I only speak the truth when I
say that the month which followed my admittance
into VValton was like some terrible nightmare.
There were times, indeed, when I almost thought
that it could not be real, and that I would awake
from it and find that I was once more breath-
ing the pure air of my VVestern home. But, alas!
that awakening never camel Pride of spirit, obsti-
nacy, too, if you will, helped me to hold my head
