Rose Dugdale was born into a life of privilege. She was a British heiress who was due to inherit a large fortune. However, this was not the life Dugdale dreamed for herself. She would give it all up to become a militant freedom fighter.
The cause she devoted her life to was giving Ireland independence from British rule. To achieve this, she joined the IRA and took part in more than one strike against the English.
I remember thinking that if you’re involved in this, you need to accept the possibility that at the end of the day, you may have to kill people - Rose Dugdale
Dugdale was born Bridget Rose Dugdale in 1941. Her father was an underwriter for Lloyd’s of London, and her mother was an heiress to a fortune.
In 1958, she was the debutante of the season, an old-fashioned ceremony where women are presented as ladies. She debuted to Queen Elizabeth alongside another 1,400 young women.
At the time, Dugdale found the festivities overindulgent and a waste of money. She persuaded her father to fund her studies at Oxford in exchange for attending the event.
By the 1960s, Dugdale had become wrapped up in the political and revolutionary spirit sweeping through university campuses.
The Journey to Activism
Her activism began in the working-class town of Tottenham in 1971. The government was in crisis, with high inflation and unemployment. They were forced to introduce a three-day working week.
Dugdale blew through her inheritance in a matter of months, giving money to poor immigrant families who were struggling to pay rent and heat their homes.
Everything changed for Dugdale and many others on 30 January 1972. British soldiers fired on demonstrators in Derry, killing thirteen unarmed civilians and injuring another fifteen. The day became known as Bloody Sunday.
She felt compelled to support the IRA. She told her friends she would wage war against imperialist power. What remained of her inheritance was spent on arms for the IRA. Along with her then-boyfriend Walter Heaton, she fled to Northern Ireland.
When the money ran out, she and Heaton decided to steal some art from her family. The couple were quickly caught. Heaton received a six-year sentence, while Dugdale was given a suspended sentence of two years.
A Life of Crime and Rebellion
Dugdale later entered a relationship with Eddie Gallagher, a member of the IRA’s paramilitary force. One of her first major operations for the IRA was an attack on the police station in Strabane, Northern Ireland. The couple hijacked a helicopter and dropped two makeshift bombs.
The amateur explosives, packed into milk churns, failed to detonate. Fortunately, no lives were lost. But Dugdale was undeterred. Using her knowledge of the aristocracy, she planned another operation.
Her target was Russborough House, owned by Sir Alfred Lane Beit and his wife, Lady Clementine Beit. The couple represented everything Dugdale hated, their fortune had roots in South African gold and diamond mines.
Shortly after 9 pm on 26 April 1974, the Beits were listening to music in the library. The staff bell rang. Their servant, James Horrigan, opened the door to a woman with a French accent, complaining about car trouble.
The woman was Dugdale. As soon as the door opened, three masked men carrying guns stormed into the house. They tied up the staff and the Beits in the library before ransacking the house. Dugdale pointed out which works of art to take.
The stolen collection included paintings by Vermeer, Metsu, and several other masters. At the time, it was considered ‘the world’s greatest art robbery’.
They left the house with nineteen paintings valued at £8 million — the equivalent of £110 million today.
Dugdale and Gallagher hid the paintings in a seaside cottage in County Cork. The other two men fled. Gallagher later left to secure a new hiding place and delivered a ransom note demanding the release of four IRA members and a payment of £500,000 in exchange for the art.
The authorities were already combing the area, and the IRA denied any association with the theft. On 4 May, during a routine search, officers visited the cottage where Dugdale was staying. They were instantly suspicious of her fake French accent.
While she was out, police raided the rental and discovered equipment linked to the robbery. When she returned home, she surrendered quietly. Authorities found three of the stolen paintings in the cottage, and the others in the boot of her car.
Life Behind Bars
Dugdale pleaded guilty, refused to name her accomplices, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. At the time, she discovered she was pregnant with Gallagher’s child. She gave birth to a son, Ruairi, on 12 December 1974, while still in prison.
Gallagher found himself in court in October 1975. He was tried for the kidnapping of Dutch businessman Tiede Herrema in a failed ransom attempt. Herrema remained in captivity for thirty-six days before being released. Gallagher was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
The couple made headlines again when they became the first imprisoned couple to marry. However, they grew estranged following Dugdale’s release in 1980 after serving six years. After her release, Dugdale moved into a cottage in Dublin with Ruairi. In 1985, she began a relationship with bomb-maker Jim Monaghan.
Together, they taught Sinn Féin training courses and began developing weapons. These were later used in multiple attacks in Belfast, County Armagh, and even Downing Street.
As Dugdale continued to work for the IRA, her son Ruairi, largely unsupervised, became involved in drugs. In 1994, he emigrated to Germany in search of a fresh start in the construction industry.
Dugdale later supported the peace process in 1998, which helped bring an end to the Troubles.
She died aged eighty-two. Pallbearers wore tricolour hairbands as they carried her wicker casket. Prominent IRA figures, including Gerry Adams and Martin Coyle, attended her funeral.
Whether Dugdale was a fearless freedom fighter or a violent criminal largely depends on your political views. What is certain is that she chose a life of turmoil over the comfortable one her inheritance could have offered.
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"She persuaded her father to fund her studies at Oxford in exchange for attending the event." Now that is my kind of woman.
A very intriguing story.
Her obvious American counterpart is Patricia Hearst, who also abandoned life in a wealthy family to become involved in a revolutionary organization (the Symbionese Liberation Army).