Patsy O'Hara
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| Paramilitary organisation | Irish National Liberation Army |
| Date of birth | 11 July, 1957 |
| Place of birth | Bishop Street, Derry |
| Hungerstrike started | 22 March, 1981 |
| Died | 21 May, 1981 |
| Days on strike | 61 |
Patrick (Patsy) O'Hara (Irish name: Pádraig or Peatsaí Ó hEadhra; July 11, 1957 - May 21, 1981) was an Irish Republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).
He was born in Bishop Street, Derry, Patsy joined Na Fianna Éireann in 1970 and his brother Sean was interned in 1972 in Long Kesh. Shortly before Bloody Sunday, he was wounded by British soldiers. He was unable to attend the civil rights march but watched it go by him in the Brandywell. The events that day had a lasting effect on him.
In October 1974 he was interned in Long Kesh. After his release in April 1975 Patsy joined the newly emerged Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) and INLA. In June 1975 he was arrested in Derry and held on remand for six months. In September 1976 he was arrested yet again and once more held on remand for four months.
Patsy went to live in Dublin for a number of months and was an active member of the IRSP Ard Comhairle. He returned to Derry in January 1979 and was active in the INLA. On May 14th 1979 he was arrested and was convicted of possessing a hand grenade and sentenced to eight years in prison in January 1980. He went on the blanket protest in the Maze Prison, where his brother, Tony was already on protest.
He became Officer Commanding of the INLA prisoners at the beginning of the first hunger strike in 1980, and he joined the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike on March 22.
On Thursday, May 21, at 11.29 p.m., he died after 61 days on hunger strike at the age of 23. His last words were "let the fight go on!"
[edit] External links
- Biography from IRIS, Vol. 1, No. 2, November 1981 (Sinn Féin publication)
- Biography from the Irish Republican Socialist Movement
Participants Who Died
Bobby Sands · Francis Hughes · Raymond McCreesh · Patsy O'Hara · Joe McDonnell
Martin Hurson · Kevin Lynch · Kieran Doherty · Thomas McElwee · Michael Devine
Participants Who Survived the Strike
Brendan McLaughlin · Paddy Quinn · Laurence McKeown · Patrick McGeow · Matt Devlin · Liam McCloskey
Patrick Sheehan · Jackie McMullan · Bernard Fox · Hugh Carville · John Pickering · Gerard Hodgkins · James Devine
Major Political and Religious Figures During the Strike
Margaret Thatcher · Garret FitzGerald · Charles Haughey · Humphrey Atkins · Bernadette McAliskey
Harry West · Owen Carron · Cardinal Tomas O Fiach · Cardinal Basil Hume · Father Denis Faul
