Dugdale was born into a wealthy English family. Her millionaire father was an underwriter at Lloyd's of London who owned a 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate near Axminster in Devon.[3][4] The family also owned a house in London near Chelsea Hospital,[5] and Dugdale was educated at the nearby Miss Ironside's School for Girls in Kensington, west London.[6][7] She was a popular pupil, with fellow pupil Virginia Ironside stating: "Everyone adored this generous, clever and dashing millionaire's daughter, who was life and laughter".[5] After completing her early education Dugdale was sent abroad to attend a finishing school.[5] Then, in 1958, she was presented as a debutante at the start of the social season.[8] Her debutante ball was held in 1959, with Dugdale describing it as "one of those pornographic affairs which cost about what 60 old-age pensioners receive in six months".[3][5]
By the early 1970s, Dugdale had become politically radicalised due to the 1968 student protests, and she had also been inspired after visiting Cuba.[3][9] By 1972 she had devoted herself to helping the poor, after resigning from her job as an economist for the government, selling her house in Chelsea, and moving into a flat in Tottenham with her lover, Walter Heaton, who described himself as a "revolutionary socialist".[3][9] Heaton was a court-martialled former guardsman and militant shop steward who was married with two daughters, and had been imprisoned for several minor criminal offences including burglary, obstructing the police and fraudulent consumption of electricity.[9][11] Dugdale cashed in her share of the family syndicate at Lloyd's, estimated to be £150,000, and distributed the money to poor people in north London.[9] Dugdale and Heaton were involved in the civil rights movement, and together ran the Tottenham Claimants Union from a corner shop.[9] They had an interest in the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, and they made frequent trips there to take part in demonstrations.[3][9]
In June 1973, the couple were arrested after a burglary at the Dugdale family home in Devon.[12] Paintings and silverware valued at £82,000 were stolen, and police believe the proceeds were destined to be sent to the IRA by Heaton.[8][12] At the trial at Exeter Crown Court Dugdale claimed to have been coerced and pleaded not guilty, and used the proceedings to publicly denounce her family and background.[13] Her father appeared as a witness for the prosecution and was cross-examined by Dugdale, who said to him: "I love you, but hate everything you stand for".[13] The couple were found guilty, prompting Dugdale to address the jury saying "In finding me guilty you have turned me from an intellectual recalcitrant into a freedom fighter. I know no finer title".[13] Heaton was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, and Dugdale received a two-year suspended sentence as the judge considering the risk of her committing any further criminal acts to be "extremely remote".[3]
IRA activity
In the months following the trial, Dugdale travelled to Ireland and joined an IRA active service unit operating along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.[14] In January 1974, Dugdale and other IRA members, including Eddie Gallagher, hijacked a helicopter in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.[15][16] Dugdale and Gallagher used the helicopter to drop bombs in milk churns on the RUC station in Strabane in Northern Ireland, the first helicopter bombing raid in the history of the British Isles.[14][16] The bombs failed to explode, and Dugdale became wanted for questioning regarding the bombing with her picture in police stations across Britain and Ireland.[14] A warrant was also issued for her arrest by Manchester Magistrates Court on 23 February 1974 on charges of conspiring to smuggle arms.[17]
As at her previous trial in 1973, Dugdale used the courtroom as a political platform, shouting "The British have an army of occupation in a small part of Ireland—but not for long!" during her arraignment in Dublin.[3][20] Dugdale's father issued a statement saying: "I don't want to appear hardhearted, but I've done everything I can for her. She knows perfectly well she could turn to me if she wanted to".[3] In Dugdale's submission to the court during her trial she denounced Britain as "a filthy enemy" and stated the Dublin government was guilty of "treacherous collaboration" with England.[20] On 25 June 1974, she was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment after pleading "proudly and incorruptibly guilty", and she gave a clenched fist salute to supporters in the public gallery.[17][20]
Imprisonment
Dugdale was pregnant with Eddie Gallagher's child when she was imprisoned, and on 12 December 1974, she gave birth to a son, Ruairí, in Limerick Prison.[21] On 3 October 1975, Gallagher and fellow IRA member Marion Coyle kidnapped industrialist Tiede Herrema near his home in Castletroy, a suburb of Limerick.[22] They were traced to a house in Monasterevin, County Kildare, and a two-week siege began.[22] Coyle and Gallagher had demanded the release of Dugdale and two other IRA members, but the authorities refused to grant any concessions.[23][24] The siege ended on 7 November when Herrema was released, and Coyle and Gallagher were arrested.[24] Gallagher and Coyle were sentenced to twenty years' and fifteen years' imprisonment respectively, and in 1978 Gallagher and Dugdale received special dispensation to marry.[22][25] The wedding took place on 24 January 1978 inside Limerick Prison, and was the first wedding between convicted prisoners in the history of the Republic of Ireland.[25][26] Dugdale was released from prison in October 1980.[14]
Later life
After her release from prison, Dugdale was active in the campaign in support of protesting Irish republican prisoners during the 1981 Irish hunger strike.[27] She is a veteran activist in the political party Sinn Féin.[28][29]
In 2007, she spoke out in support of the Shell to Sea campaign against the proposed construction of a high-pressure raw gaspipeline through Rossport by Shell, saying the Shell contract was invalid and needed "to be renegotiated on behalf of the people of Ireland".[28] She is also a director at Dublin Community Television.[8]
In 2011, she was the honouree at the annual Dublin Volunteers event, which each year acknowledges a person for their contribution to Irish republicanism. In an interview with the republican newspaper An Phoblacht before the event, Dugdale said she believed "the revolutionary army that was the IRA had achieved its principal objective, which was to get your enemy to negotiate with you. They did that with amazing skill and ability, and I can't help but respect what was done in terms of the Good Friday Agreement." On her involvement in the IRA, she added: "I did what I wanted to do. I am proud to have been part of the Republican Movement, and I hope that I have played my very small part in the success of the armed struggle."[30]
In 2012, she was the subject of a TG4 documentary entitled Mná an IRA (Women of the IRA).[31]
^ abcdMcLeave, Hugh (1981). Rogues in the gallery: The modern plague of art thefts. D. R. Godine. p. 72. ISBN978-0-87923-378-5. With these "wild boys" she planned and executed the first-ever helicopter bombing raid in the British Isles, with four improvised milk-churn bombs
^ abCusack, Jim (30 October 2005). "Herrema kidnapping threatened economy". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 November 2007. Eddie Gallagher was arrested with Rose Dugdale in 1974 after they had hijacked a helicopter and tried to drop milk churns containing explosive on the RUC station in Strabane
