Elizabeth Dillon

Elizabeth Dillon (; 2 March 186514 May 1907) was an Irish diarist and nationalist.

Early life Dillon was born Elizabeth Mathew at 6 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey, England, on 2 March 1865. and began to learn Irish in 1893.

Political activism Dillon's father supported land reform in Ireland, chaired the evicted tenants commission in 1892, and was a huge influence on her politics. She made her first political reference on 25 February 1883 when she noted the arrest of the Invincibles, and she then regularly commented on land reform. She travelled to Ireland for the first time in August 1886, staying in Killiney, County Dublin. In October 1886, she met John Dillon, and began to follow the Plan of Campaign so that she could discuss it with him during his visits to the Mathew house in London. During this time, John Dillon was deeply immersed in politics, and was imprisoned on a number of occasions. Being a careful follower of Irish politics, she became an anti-Parnellite. She confronted John Dillon in autumn 1895 about their relationship, saying that they could no longer meet as they had become the subject of gossip. He proposed within two weeks, and they were married on 21 November 1895 in Brompton Oratory. They were busy and often apart, with John having spend time in a warm climate due to his ill health. Dillon tried to accompany him when she could, but the couple's large family made that difficult.