Rose Dugdale: British heiress turned "IRA bombmaker" has died
Rose Dugdale, the daughter of a London millionaire who became a member of the provisional IRA, has passed away aged 83.
Dugdale died at a nursing home in Dublin on Monday, March 18. During her career with the Irish Repub‐ lican Army (IRA), she was jailed for nine years for her involvement in the Russ‐ borough House art heist in Co Wicklow and hijacking a helicopter. She had a child while in hospital and retreated from public life after her release.
A 2022 biography by Seán O'Driscoll, "Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber," also claimed she was responsible for making one of the largest bombs used by the IRA during the Troubles. Dugdale's life journey traversed from the privileged echelons of British society to the radical ranks of the IRA. Dugdale hailed from a wealthy and aristocratic background, the daughter of Sir John Dugdale, a baronet, and Lady Elizabeth Dugdale.
Educated at the prestigious Wycombe
Abbey School and later at Girton Col‐ lege, Cambridge, Dugdale demonstrated academic prowess, earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. In 1966, Dugdale embarked on a pivotal trip to Cuba, where she encountered the revolutionary fervor of the time. This ex‐ perience ignited her activism and radi‐ calized her views. Upon returning to England, she became involved in various leftist causes, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the anti-apartheid movement. However, it was her association with the IRA that would thrust her into the spot‐ light of notoriety. In 1973, Dugdale or‐ chestrated one of the most audacious acts of her life - the theft of 19 paint‐ ings, from the mansion of Sir Alfred Beit, Russborough House, in Co Wick‐ low.
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Russborough House, in County Wicklow. The haul included a Vermeer, a Goya, two Gainsboroughs, and three Rubens. The stolen paintings, worth £8m, were intended to be used as leverage to se‐ cure the release of IRA prisoners. Dugdale's involvement in the heist led to her arrest and subsequent trial, during which she famously defended herself, delivering impassioned speeches that captivated the public imagination. De‐