Patricia Black, also known as Pat Black or Patricia Black-Donnelly (28 November 1972 - 15 November 1991) was a Volunteer

Volunteer (Irish republican)

Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...

 in the Belfast Brigade

Belfast Brigade

"Belfast Brigade" is an Irish folk song, to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Context:The song is about the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army , and in particular the 1st, or West Belfast battalion, during the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s...

 of the Provisional Irish Republican Army

Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...

 (IRA).

Background

Black grew up in the Lenadoon area of Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and was educated at St. Oliver Plunkett Primary School and St. Genevieve's Girls Secondary School in Belfast.

Active service

Patricia joined the IRA at the age of 17. Her comrades considered her a determined and dedicated young woman and she was tasked with the role of intelligence gathering. Later Black informed her parent that she was moving to Dublin but secretly moved to London.

She died, along with fellow Volunteer, Frank Ryan, on 15 November 1991, when an improvised explosive device

Improvised explosive device

An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...

 she was carrying detonated prematurely near London. A British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 military band

Military band

A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...

 had been playing in theatre on St Peter's Street in St Albans

St Albans

St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...

 which the pair had planned to attack, when the device unexpectedly exploded killing her and Ryan.

At the funeral of Frank Ryan a Sinn Féin leader, Jim Gibney, stated "Frankie and Patricia are not alone. They are representatives of a generation of Ireland's youth who have acquired the skills to remain hidden, who come forward when required to do so. How will the British defeat this invisible force?"

Black is buried in Milltown Cemetery

Milltown Cemetery

Milltown Cemetery is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 and there are now approximately 200,000 of Belfast's citizens buried there. Most of those buried there are...

 Belfast.

The Volunteers Patricia Black and Frankie Ryan Memorial Flute Band from the Garngad area of Glasgow is jointly named after her, they are politically aligned to eirigi.

A political mural depicting a uniformed armed female republican in uniform in the Lenadoon area of Belfast is jointly dedicated to Black as well as Laura Crawford, Bridie Quinn and Mairéad Farrell

Mairéad Farrell

Mairéad Farrell was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . She was killed by SAS soldiers during Operation Flavius, a British Army operation to prevent a bombing in Gibraltar.-Early life:...

.

A memorial to Black and Ryan was erected in their honour at the Sally Gardens Centre in Belfast. At its unveiling in 2007, West Belfast MLA

Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)

Member of the Legislative Assembly is a representative elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland.- About :...

Jennifer McCann stated "They are our heroes and our inspiration. They are no longer with us but let us take their vision forward."