Bobby Sands Mural, Belfast

The Bobby Sands Mural is one of Belfast’s most recognisable political murals and a powerful reminder of the Troubles. Located on the gable wall of the Sinn Féin offices at the corner of Falls Road and Sevastopol Street, it depicts Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who became one of the best-known figures of the 1981 hunger strikes. The portrait is based on a photograph taken of Sands while he was imprisoned. Given its sheer size, the mural is virtually impossible to miss. Depending on the direction from which you approach, you may first spot the white sign marking Sevastopol Street on the building opposite the Sinn Féin offices.

In 1977, Sands was sentenced to 14 years in the Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh, for firearms possession. There, republican prisoners protested against the withdrawal of Special Category Status, refusing to wear prison uniforms or carry out prison work and demanding greater freedom of association, visits and other privileges. On 1 March 1981, Sands began a hunger strike demanding recognition of the prisoners’ political status.

During the protest, Sands was elected as a Member of the UK Parliament, attracting international attention. However, he died on 5 May 1981, aged 27, after 66 days without food.

Murals have occupied this wall since the early 1980s, with the present portrait of Sands forming one of Belfast’s best-known examples of political street art. His smiling face is surrounded by republican imagery, including broken chains, a lark at the bottom and a phoenix at the top, evoking themes of freedom, resistance and rebirth. Step closer to the mural to appreciate the smaller portraits of fellow IRA members Kieran Doherty, Seán McCaughey and Joe McDonnell on the far left and right sides of the wall.