By Róise Collins

A MEMOIR which tells the remarkable story of Mary Attenborough and Michael Gallagher from Falcarragh will be launched in Óstán Loch Altan, Gort an Choirce, tomorrow night.

Pearse Doherty TD will be present to help launch the book, Unbroken: Secrets, Lies & Enduring Love, which recounts the gripping true story of a love that endured under the most unthinkable circumstances.

Speaking to the Donegal News ahead of the launch, Mary and Michael reflected on their extraordinary journey.

The couple met in London in 1985. Michael, a native of Derryconner who grew up in Glasgow, had moved there in the early 1980s. At the time, he had fallen on hard times and was struggling with alcohol addiction.

Two years after getting sober, he met Mary, who had just completed her PhD in Mathematical Physics.

They were introduced through a local anti-apartheid group and bonded over a shared interest in left-wing politics. Together they also attended support groups for the striking miners.

“And we have been together since,” Michael said

But their relationship was not without hardship. On October 28, 1996, Michael was arrested in an armed dawn raid on the London flat they shared. He was accused of playing a role in the IRA mortar attack on Heathrow Airport in March 1994.

Michael described the terrifying ordeal of being taken at gunpoint. Just weeks earlier, IRA volunteer Diarmuid O’Neill had been shot dead just over a mile from their home.

“So I thought this was another shoot to kill,” Michael explained.

Mary recalled the moment with horror. After leaving her lying on the ground, they took Michael away in a forensic suit.

Thrown into a nightmare, Mary devoted herself to fighting for his freedom and to highlight what she saw as yet another example of British “justice” gone wrong.

“The book is mainly about me trying to get Michael out, because I believed he was innocent,” Mary explained.

She campaigned tirelessly, even managing to secure bail for Michael which was unheard of in IRA-related cases.

“The lawyers thought it was impossible, they didn’t even suggest I get money for the bail, but I did.”

In just two months, Mary had over half a million pounds pledged.

At one point, during his interrogation, Michael was even offered a bribe – a million pounds and relocation to a sunny destination – in exchange for giving names.

“He knew that was no good because the only place I wanted to go to was Donegal,” Mary laughed.

Before his arrest, the couple had bought a cottage in Donegal. The dream of a peaceful life in the hills overlooking the sea helped sustain them through the darkest times.

Today, that cottage is their home. Since 2000, they’ve run a web development business together from there.

While in prison, Michael became a keen writer. His talent earned him recognition, including a prize for Irish writers in prison. He proudly recalled the governor bragging about his achievement.

But the one story he knew he had to tell was theirs.

Originally, Michael began writing a fictionalised account of their love story. But during a trip to a writers’ festival in Cork, the couple met acclaimed author Gillian Slovo, who had been Michael’s tutor. She encouraged them to write a joint memoir.

“In some ways writing it together was really lovely cause you can have conversations but we could also have disagreements as well,” Mary laughed.

Told in the alternating voices of the two authors, the dramatic story unfolds with Michael struggling against the harsh realities of incarceration, while Mary focuses on organising his legal defence, battling to stay positive in the face of soul-destroying setbacks and emotional hardships.

Yet behind it all lies a secret there is an unspoken secret that Michael dare not tell. His true role in the events that lead to his imprisonment. The secret that could tear the couple apart.

Tense and emotional, with an electrifying twist, Unbroken is a gripping true story of faithfulness and deception, and a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human heart.

Unbroken: Secrets, Lies & Enduring Love will be launched on Friday, July 4 at 7pm in Óstán Loch Altan, Gort an Choirce.