Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike of endurance has been associated with the belief that sufferers, rather than those at whose hand they suffer, will ultimately triumph in seen in the songs about the ten hunger strikers. In "Bobby Sands, MP", Sands is portrayed as an artist and poet. The theme of sacrifice also plays a role, such as the hunger striker asking his family to let him go in "The Time has Come", written by Christy Moore and Donal Lunny about the final meeting between Patsy O'Hara and his mother. Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike Between 1 March 1976 and 3 October
Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike Between 1 March 1976 and 3 October 1981, Irish republican prisoners in HM Prison Maze carried out a variety of protests against the withdrawal of Special Category Status for prisoners convicted of proscribed "terrorism" offences. These protests culminated in the 1981 Irish hunger strike in which ten prisoners died. This article lists the various artistic responses to these protests, made at the time and subsequently by artists supportive or opposing the protestors, and by artists who were uninvolved in the conflict. Following the hunger strike, nationalist murals depicting those considered martyrs of