Bobby Sands
| Bobby Sands | |
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Sands in Long Kesh, 1973 (aged 18–19)
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Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
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In office 9 April 1981 – 5 May 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Frank Maguire |
| Succeeded by | Owen Carron |
| Majority | 1,447 (2.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 March 1954 Whiteabbey, Newtownabbey Northern Ireland |
| Died | 5 May 1981 (aged 27) Maze, County Down Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Anti H-Block |
| Spouse(s) | Geraldine Noade (1972–1981, his death) |
| Children | Gerard Sands |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Other organisations | Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer |
| Website | Bobby Sands Trust |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Provisional IRA
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| Years of service | 1972–1981 |
| Unit | First Battalion South West Belfast, Belfast Brigade |
| Battles/wars | The Troubles |
Robert Gerard Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981), commonly known as Bobby Sands, was an Irish member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze.
He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate. His death and those of nine other hunger strikers were followed by a new surge of Provisional IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.
Sands was born in 1954 to Roman Catholic parents, John (died 2014) and Rosaleen, who were both raised in Belfast. After marrying, they relocated to the new development of Abbots Cross, Newtownabbey, County Antrim outside North Belfast. Sands was the eldest of four children. His younger sisters, Marcella and Bernadette, were born in 1955 and 1958, respectively. He also had a younger brother, John (b. 1962). After experiencing harassment and intimidation from their neighbours, the family abandoned the development and moved in with friends for six months before being granted housing in the nearby Rathcoole development. Rathcoole was 30% Catholic and featured Catholic schools as well as a nominally Catholic but religiously-integrated youth football club known as Star of the Sea (of which Sands was a member and for whom he played left-back), an unusual circumstance in Northern Ireland.
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Wikipedia