Bobby Sands: Who Was He and Why Is His Mural Still a Symbol of Belfast?
Updated: Jul 22
Today, 5 May, remains a significant date in Belfast’s recent history.
In 1981, after 66 days on hunger strike at the Maze Prison (also known as Long Kesh), Bobby Sands died. He would later become one of the most recognised and controversial figures of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Today, when walking along Falls Road in West Belfast, one image appears again and again among the city’s political murals: the face of Bobby Sands.
For visitors exploring this area, his mural is often one of their first connections with the history of the Troubles. However, his legacy continues to inspire very different opinions.
For some, he was a symbol of resistance and the struggle for the rights of republican prisoners. For others, he was a figure connected to an armed organisation and a period of violence that caused the deaths of thousands of people.
That is precisely why understanding who Bobby Sands was is essential to understanding an important part of Belfast’s recent history and the complexity of Northern Ireland.
His story is directly connected to the Troubles, the 1981 hunger strike, and the political changes that shaped Northern Ireland during the final decades of the 20th century.
👤 Who Was Bobby Sands?
Bobby Sands was born in Belfast in 1954 and grew up in an area affected by rising tensions between communities during the 1960s and 1970s.
During his youth, he became involved in the Irish republican movement and eventually joined the Provisional IRA (PIRA).
During the Troubles, he was arrested several times in connection with activities linked to armed republicanism and was later imprisoned.
In 1977, he was convicted of possession of firearms and spent several years in prison.
However, his name became internationally known in 1981, when he took part in a hunger strike at Maze Prison (Long Kesh), located near Belfast.
⚔️ The Troubles and the Debate Over Political Prisoners
To understand Bobby Sands’ importance, it is necessary to understand the wider context of the Troubles.
During the conflict, many imprisoned republicans believed they were not ordinary criminals, but political prisoners fighting for a national cause.
The British government, particularly from the late 1970s onwards, rejected this status and continued to classify them as convicted criminals.
This disagreement became one of the main reasons behind the prison protests at Maze.
Republican prisoners began different forms of protest, including the blanket protest and the dirty protest, eventually leading to the hunger strike of 1981.
✊ The First Hunger Strike of 1980
Before the famous hunger strike of 1981, republican prisoners at Maze Prison had already begun a protest demanding improved prison conditions and recognition of their political status.
In October 1980, a hunger strike began, led by Brendan Hughes, one of the most prominent Provisional IRA prisoners at the time.
The protest lasted 53 days and ended on 18 December 1980, when Hughes decided to stop the strike to prevent the death of fellow prisoner Sean McKenna, whose health had seriously deteriorated.
During the protest, the British government presented proposals that appeared to address some of the prisoners’ demands, particularly regarding the right to wear their own clothes. The prisoners believed these proposals represented progress towards their objectives.
However, after the hunger strike ended, republican prisoners argued that the measures introduced did not meet their expectations and that the question of political status remained unresolved.
The belief that the agreement had not been fully honoured became one of the factors that led to a second hunger strike a few months later in 1981.
This time, the prisoners organised the protest in stages, meaning that not all participants would reach a critical condition at the same time.
🍽️ The 1981 Hunger Strike
On 1 March 1981, Bobby Sands began a new hunger strike alongside other republican prisoners at Maze Prison (Long Kesh).
Their main objective was to achieve recognition of certain demands regarding prison treatment, particularly the recognition of political status.
Their demands included:
The right to wear their own clothes.
The right not to carry out prison work.
Greater freedom to organise within the prison.
Recognition that their offences had political motivations.
The British government, led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, refused to grant political status to the prisoners.
The hunger strike attracted enormous international attention and turned Maze Prison into the centre of one of the most significant episodes of the Troubles.
The deaths of Sands and nine other prisoners had a major political and social impact.
For many within the republican community, they became symbols of resistance and sacrifice. For many unionists and others affected by the conflict, the hunger strikers remained associated with the violence of the IRA.
🗳️ Bobby Sands: Elected MP During the Hunger Strike
One of the most remarkable moments of the hunger strike happened in April 1981.
While continuing his protest and as his health deteriorated, Bobby Sands was elected as a Member of Parliament for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
His election had a significant political and media impact.
For many nationalists, it demonstrated the level of support he had among parts of the republican community.
For the British government, however, it did not change Sands’ legal situation or alter its position regarding the prisoners.
🕯️ The Death of Bobby Sands and the Other Hunger Strikers
After 66 days on hunger strike, Bobby Sands died on 5 May 1981 at Maze Prison.
He was 27 years old.
He was the first hunger striker to die during the 1981 protest.
His death caused an enormous international reaction, and thousands of people attended his funeral in Belfast.
At the same time, his death increased tensions across Northern Ireland and led to further protests and episodes of violence, particularly in republican areas.
The hunger strike became one of the most significant moments of the Troubles, with political and social consequences that continued to shape Northern Ireland for years afterwards.
Following Sands’ death, nine other republican prisoners also died during the hunger strike, bringing the total number of deaths to ten.
The events had profound political consequences. Support for the republican movement increased, and Sinn Féin became a more influential political force in Northern Ireland.
The republican movement increasingly combined political participation with electoral campaigning, a strategy that would have a major impact on Northern Ireland’s future.
🎨 The Bobby Sands Mural on Falls Road: A Symbol of Belfast
One of the best-known places connected to Bobby Sands is the Bobby Sands mural on Falls Road, in West Belfast.
Located beside the Sinn Féin office, it has become one of the most photographed political murals in the city.
For many visitors, it may simply appear to be a striking piece of street art. However, for the local community, it represents much more.
For many within the republican movement, it is a symbol of resistance, memory and sacrifice.
For others, it remains an image associated with a period of violence and division.
This complexity is exactly what makes Belfast’s murals so important. They are not simply works of art; they are expressions of identity, memory and different interpretations of the past.
⚖️ Bobby Sands: A Figure Who Continues to Divide Opinion
More than four decades after his death, Bobby Sands remains a deeply controversial figure.
For many Irish nationalists, he represents the struggle for civil rights, Irish identity and resistance against British rule.
For many unionists and others affected by the conflict, his connection with the IRA means his legacy is viewed from a very different perspective.
This diversity of opinions is part of Belfast’s reality.
Understanding the city’s history means recognising that its main figures do not have the same meaning for everyone.
✍️ Bobby Sands: Writing and Cultural Legacy
Alongside his political role, Bobby Sands also left behind writings created during his years in prison.
He wrote poems, letters and personal reflections that later became part of the memory of the Irish republican movement.
One of the most famous quotes associated with his writings is:
“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.”
The phrase reflects a vision of the future and hope within his own personal beliefs, and over time it became one of the quotations most closely associated with him.
His story was also portrayed in the film Hunger (2008), directed by Steve McQueen, which explores the final days of the hunger strike and life inside Maze Prison.
🌆 Belfast Today: Remembering the Past to Understand the Present
Today, Belfast is a very different city from the one that existed in 1981.
Its streets are filled with restaurants, music, art and visitors from around the world.
But the marks of its past remain visible.
The murals of Falls Road and Shankill Road, the Peace Walls and former locations connected to the conflict continue to tell the story of a city shaped by decades of division.
Bobby Sands is part of that story.
Understanding his role is essential to understanding Belfast and the complexity of Northern Ireland’s history.
🚶 Discover the Story of Bobby Sands in Belfast
The best way to understand the meaning behind Belfast’s political murals is to visit the places where these stories happened.
On our Political Tour of Belfast, we visit Falls Road, the murals, the neighbourhoods of West Belfast and the locations that help explain how the Troubles affected generations of people.
Because in Belfast, every mural tells a story.
And the story of Bobby Sands remains one of the most recognised and debated chapters of Belfast’s history.
