Architect of 1974 Strabane barracks attack passes away

ROSE Dugdale, the English socialite who became involved with the IRA and was part of a failed bomb attack on Strabane RUC station 50 years ago this year, passed away at the weekend.

Dr Dugdale, as she later became, was born Bridget Rose Dugdale into an upper-class family in Devon to Lieutenant Colonel Eric Dugdale, a Lloyds Bank underwriter and Carol (nee Timms).

Having studied politics, philosophy and economics, she graduated in 1962 and it was during her college years that Dugdale became embroiled in the political arena where she would spend her formative years. After travelling to Cuba and Belfast where she witnessed army on the streets, she began giving money to the IRA for guns, particularly in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday.

1974 was to be a watershed year for Dugdale, who met Donegal native Eddie Gallagher at the claimants office she had set up in London and the pair moved to Ireland, setting up an IRA training camp. Having become embroiled in IRA activity, she, along with Gallagher, hijacked a helicopter in Donegal in January 1974 and had it flown over Strabane with the intent of dropping milk churns packed with explosives on Strabane RUC station, the first such attack of its kind in the British Isles. The bombs missed their target, failing to detonate. She later told author Sean O’Driscoll that it was ‘the happiest day of her life’, despite their failing objective.

In April of the same year, after obtaining art knowledge by breaking into her agents house and stealing close to £80,000 worth of valuables to pay for revolutionary causes, she, Gallagher and a number of others, tricked their way into Russborough House, the home of Sir Alfred Beit and stole a number of priceless paintings including works by Goya, Velázquez, Vermeer, Rubens, Hals, Gainsborough and Guardi. At the time, it was the largest art heist in history. A manhunt followed and the paintings were retrieved in Glandore, Cork. Dugdale was arrested in connection to both incidents, sentenced to jail for nine years for her part in the attacks.

Pregnant with son Ruairi, Dugdale gave birth in Limerick Prison and became, along with Gallagher (imprisoned for his role in the Herrema kidnapping) the first jailed couple to be married while in custody in Irish history. She was released in 1980.

Post-imprisonment, Dugdale became an integral part of the IRA, developing bombs and other devices for use in raids and bombing campaigns. In her later years, Dugdale was cared for in a Dublin nursing home where she passed away.

On hearing of Dr Dugdale’s passing, West Tyrone MP Órfhlaith Begley said, “Rose was a committed republican and was unflinching in her beliefs… Ireland has lost a committed republican and activist, and Sinn Féin a valued comrade.”