Villanova Digital Library - 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. :: Digital Library@Villanova University

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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.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR REMOVAL FROM WALTON-IN MOUNTJOY. 49 strange that there was not at least one trained nurse for the hospital. The wardresses were kind, but one could see in every detail that they lacked training. For one instance: a very unhealthy prisoner had occupied the same bed for over two years, and yet this bed was not even properly washed after she left. The mattress was just put out in the exercise ground for one afternoon, and then put back again. Also there was not enough of disinfectant used in the hospital. It is impossible for me to jot down all the annoy- ing incidents of my five months in Walton. But I think the thing of all others which really tormented me the most and got most on my nerves, was the final locking up at night. The Chief Wardress would give the order, “ All doors shut!” and for about five minutes nothing could be heard but the banging of doors all over the wing-it absolutely shook the building. Then a wardress came along, and locked each cell door, and to me she always seemed to make a rush with the key at the keyhole, and to turn it with delight! Another wardress followed in her wake, and locked the same cell doors in the same violent manner. And then came the final prison good-night, which I detested immensely. This was the last look from another official through the spy-hole of the cell. Oh! how it worried me, that spy-hole! It is such a horrible feeling to know that there is someone look- ing at you, and that you cannot see them. I always felt that eye, and would look up to see it-just one awful eye l-gazing at me through the tiny aperture. That final looking for the night got on my nerves D

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