Abstract

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.