Glandore role in late heiress’s colourful life

THE village of Glandore found itself in the spotlight in the story of the late Rose Dugdale, who died at the age of 83 in Dublin last week.

The former English heiress who joined the IRA in the 1970s, found herself in the seaside village, following her role in the Russborough House art theft in 1974.

Following the heist, Rose and her then boyfriend, IRA bomber Eddie Gallagher went on the run to West Cork, where she ended up renting a cottage from Glandore farmer, Con Hayes.

It appears that 10 days before the heist, she used an alias of ‘Mrs Merrime’ and agreed to pay him £10 a week for the cottage and occasional use of his car for trips to Glandore.

She stored the stolen artworks at the cottage.

However, her stay in Glandore was shortlived when Con spoke to local gardaí about a ‘mysterious’ woman renting the cottage who spoke in broken English.

As the gardaí closed in on Rose, she borrowed his Morris Minor and headed to Baltimore but when she arrived back she was met by armed gardaí and arrested.

She served nine years in prison for her role in the thefts and the hijacking of a helicopter and later married Eddie Gallagher in prison. She was released from prison in October 1980.

Her death this week coincides with the release of the film Baltimore which stars Imogen Poots as Dugdale and focuses on the art heist raid from Russborough House.