Bobby Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) joined the IRA in 1972.In October of that year, he was arrested and charged with possession of four handguns which were found in the house in which he was staying. In April 1973 he was sentenced to five years imprisonment.Upon his release in 1976 he resumed his role in the IRA,later that year he was arrested along with Joe McDonnell.Sands was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment.
Republican prisoners had been involved in political status protests since 1976.The blanket protest had escalated to the dirty protest by 1978.In 1980 the first hunger strike ,lead by Bredan "The Dark" Hughes had begun ,as a result Bobby Sands was made officer commanding in Long Kesh.The hunger strike of 1981 began when Bobby Sands refused food on 1 March 1981,Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.
Shortly after the beginning of the strike Frank Maguire(ind rep mp Ferm. and Sth Tyrone)died.The sudden vacancy in a seat with a Roman Catholic majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign.In the by election that followed Bobby Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner".After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046.
Three weeks later, Sands died in the prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots.Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands' funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others.Bobby Sands was a prolific writer and story teller.
The Rhythm Of Time
There's an inner thing in every man,
Do you know this thing my friend?
It has withstood the blows of a million years,
And will do so to the end.
It was born when time did not exist,
And it grew up out of life,
It cut down evil's strangling vines,
Like a slashing searing knife.
It lit fires when fires were not,
And burnt the mind of man,
Tempering leandened hearts to steel,
From the time that time began.
It wept by the waters of Babylon,
And when all men were a loss,
It screeched in writhing agony,
And it hung bleeding from the Cross.
It died in Rome by lion and sword,
And in defiant cruel array,
When the deathly word was 'Spartacus'
Along the Appian Way.
It marched with Wat the Tyler's poor,
And frightened lord and king,
And it was emblazoned in their deathly stare,
As e'er a living thing.
It smiled in holy innocence,
Before conquistadors of old,
So meek and tame and unaware,
Of the deathly power of gold.
It burst forth through pitiful Paris streets,
And stormed the old Bastille,
And marched upon the serpent's head,
And crushed it 'neath its heel.
It died in blood on Buffalo Plains,
And starved by moons of rain,
Its heart was buried at Wounded Knee,
But it will come to rise again.
It screamed aloud by Kerry lakes,
As it was knelt upon the ground,
And it died in great defiance,
As they coldly shot it down.
It is found in every light of hope,
It knows no bounds nor space
It has risen in red and black and white,
It is there in every race.
It lies in the hearts of heroes dead,
It screams in tyrants' eyes,
It has reached the peak of mountains high,
It comes searing 'cross the skies.
It lights the dark of this prison cell,
It thunders forth its might,
It is 'the undauntable thought', my friend,
The thought that says 'I'm right!'
Republican prisoners had been involved in political status protests since 1976.The blanket protest had escalated to the dirty protest by 1978.In 1980 the first hunger strike ,lead by Bredan "The Dark" Hughes had begun ,as a result Bobby Sands was made officer commanding in Long Kesh.The hunger strike of 1981 began when Bobby Sands refused food on 1 March 1981,Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.
Shortly after the beginning of the strike Frank Maguire(ind rep mp Ferm. and Sth Tyrone)died.The sudden vacancy in a seat with a Roman Catholic majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign.In the by election that followed Bobby Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner".After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046.
Three weeks later, Sands died in the prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots.Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands' funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others.Bobby Sands was a prolific writer and story teller.
The Rhythm Of Time
There's an inner thing in every man,
Do you know this thing my friend?
It has withstood the blows of a million years,
And will do so to the end.
It was born when time did not exist,
And it grew up out of life,
It cut down evil's strangling vines,
Like a slashing searing knife.
It lit fires when fires were not,
And burnt the mind of man,
Tempering leandened hearts to steel,
From the time that time began.
It wept by the waters of Babylon,
And when all men were a loss,
It screeched in writhing agony,
And it hung bleeding from the Cross.
It died in Rome by lion and sword,
And in defiant cruel array,
When the deathly word was 'Spartacus'
Along the Appian Way.
It marched with Wat the Tyler's poor,
And frightened lord and king,
And it was emblazoned in their deathly stare,
As e'er a living thing.
It smiled in holy innocence,
Before conquistadors of old,
So meek and tame and unaware,
Of the deathly power of gold.
It burst forth through pitiful Paris streets,
And stormed the old Bastille,
And marched upon the serpent's head,
And crushed it 'neath its heel.
It died in blood on Buffalo Plains,
And starved by moons of rain,
Its heart was buried at Wounded Knee,
But it will come to rise again.
It screamed aloud by Kerry lakes,
As it was knelt upon the ground,
And it died in great defiance,
As they coldly shot it down.
It is found in every light of hope,
It knows no bounds nor space
It has risen in red and black and white,
It is there in every race.
It lies in the hearts of heroes dead,
It screams in tyrants' eyes,
It has reached the peak of mountains high,
It comes searing 'cross the skies.
It lights the dark of this prison cell,
It thunders forth its might,
It is 'the undauntable thought', my friend,
The thought that says 'I'm right!'