A picture of Jessica Taylor as a volunteer nurse in 1918. Her diary, here made public for the first time, was kept in a series of school jotters.

In 1916, Jessica recorded her reaction to the Easter Rising, and her horror at what was unfolding in the city centre. She described how she and her father travelled to Talbot Street on Tuesday of Easter Week, and watched the rebels in the GPO at close quarters.

Since there were ‘no trams running’, they walked to his butcher’s shop on Baggot Street. They were lucky to pass through the city unharmed: more than half the people killed during the Easter Rising were civilians.

Her use of language betrays her sympathies. The rebels were 'brutes' but the ‘Tommies’ were ‘awfully nice especially a lance corporal of about 20.’

By permission of the family of Jessica Taylor

Citation:
Diary of Jessica Taylor,
Marsh's Library Exhibits: ‘Changed Utterly?’ curated by Elaine Doyle and Jason McElligott,
accessed June 27, 2025,
https://web.marshlibrary.ie/digi/exhibits/show/irishrevolution/item/623