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Born into a wealthy English family, Rose Dugdale was part of the last crop of debutantes presented to the Queen. But instead of looking for a suitable husband, she went to Oxford, embraced radical politics, and gave away a chunk of her considerable fortune.
Meanwhile, a war was underway in Northern Ireland. Rose quickly became devoted to the republican cause and, with the IRA man Eddie Gallagher, plotted and executed two of the strangest and most spectacular operations of the Troubles: a helicopter bombing raid on Strabane barracks, and the audacious armed theft of nineteen Old Master paintings.
In prison she gave birth to a son, having successfully concealed her pregnancy until she went into labour. After her release, she was at the forefront of an IRA-linked vigilante movement against drug dealers in Dublin. Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber tells the never-before-told story of how, with Jim Monaghan, Rose became a central figure in the IRA’s research and development operation, helping to innovate weapons and explosives.
Drawing on exclusive interviews with Rose Dugdale, Jim Monaghan, Eddie Gallagher, and other key friends, collaborators, fellow prisoners and family members in Ireland and England, Sean O’Driscoll has produced a jaw-dropping portrait of a singular figure.
Sean O’Driscoll is the author of The Accidental Spy, the bestselling true story of an American trucker who became an FBI spy within the IRA. His investigative journalism has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian and the Irish Times. He previously worked as an immigration and criminal lawyer in New York and now works as a news editor at the Irish Daily Mail.