In 1981 ten martyrs for the Irish Republican cause sacrificed themselves by
participating in a hunger strike at Her Majestyʼs Prison Maze better known as The
Maze, Long Kesh, or, simply, H Blocks in County Down, Ireland. The 1981 Hunger
Strike was a direct confrontation between the Irish political prisoners and the Prime
Minister of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher. The 1981 Hunger Strike began on March
1 when The Irish Republican Armyʼs Bobby Sands refused food. He would be joined by
other brave men at staggered intervals. The Strike was called off when it became
apparent that the families of these men would permit medical intervention, against the
will of the strikers, when they would eventually slip into unconsciousness.
Keywords: 1981 Hunger Strike, Irish National Liberation Army, Irish Republican
Army, starvation.
