The play, set on an island off the coast of Ireland, begins

with Nora bringing in a small bundle with her and

telling Cathleen that these may be the clothes of their brother
Michael. The young priest told her a body of a drowned man was
found at Donegal, and the body might be Michael's. The sisters are
scared to open the bundle of clothes because they do not want
their mother, Maurya, to know: Michael has been missing for a
week and the family had already lost five men to the sea. They
hide the bundle in the turf loft of the cottage.
Maurya is prepared for the funeral for Michael, with whiteboards for
his coffin ready at the cottage. She enters the kitchen; she is a
woman who is seen lamenting all the time and worrying that her
sons will never come back from the sea. Maurya, Nora, and
Cathleen discuss the last son, Bartley, who is also planning to go
the sea to sell the family horses so they could get some money.
Nora and Cathleen are convinced that Bartley should go to the fair
at Galway to sell the animals, while Maurya is still hoping that the
Priest will not allow him to go in such dangerous tides.
Bartley enters the cottage looking for a new piece of rope. Maurya
tries to stop him, but he says he wants to make a halter for the
horses; clearly Bartley plans to go to the sea. Maurya again tries to
dissuade him by showing him the whiteboards for Michael. Paying
no heed, Bartley changes his clothes, asks his sisters to take care
of the sheep, and leaves without receiving any blessings from his
mother. It is a tradition in Ireland that the son receives the
blessings of his mother before going anywhere, but Maurya breaks
this fashion.
Bartley leaves with a red mare and a grey pony tied behind.
Cathleen then notices that he has not taken any food and tells
Maurya to walk down to the well to give Bartley his food and the
blessings. Maurya leaves using a stick that Michael brought,
lamenting over how in her family, the old ones never leave
anything behind for their heirs, despite that being the general
custom.
Once Maurya is gone, the girls retrieve the bundle of clothes from
the loft to check if they are Michael's. Nora realizes that the
stockings are truly Michael's, because she recognizes her own
stitching on them. They count the number of stitches and arrive at
the conclusion that Michael was dead and buried.
The sisters hide the clothes again because they think that Maurya
will be returning in a good mood since she got the chance to bless
Bartley; however, Maurya comes back more distressed than ever.
She tells her daughters that she saw Michael on the grey pony; she
could not bless Bartley due to the shock. To calm her down, Nora
and Cathleen show Maurya the clothes and tell her that Michael has
had a clean burial. Maurya's laments are interrupted when
islanders bring the body of Bartley into the cottage and tell the
women that the grey pony knocked Bartley into the sea, where he
drowned.
Maurya gets on her knees near Bartley's body and sprinkles holy
water on him. She finally resigns herself to her fate as she claims
that she will finally sleep at night because she no longer has
anyone to worry about: all the men of her family have died to the
sea. The whiteboards that were supposed to be used for Michael's
coffin will now be used to bury Bartley. Maurya prays that the souls
of her husband, her husband's father, and four sons may rest in
peace, and the curtains are drawn.
The setting of the play is a small island off the West of Ireland; the curtain rises on a cottage kitchen. Cathleen, a
twenty-year-old girl, kneads cake. Nora, a younger girl, looks in from the door and asks where their mother is.
Cathleen replies that she is lying down.

Nora enters with a bundle that the young priest had brought: clothes from a dead man washed up in Donegal. The
sisters plan to see if they belong to their brother, Michael. The young priest on the island said that if the clothes
are Michael's, then it would mean that he received a clean burial. Nora adds that they should not tell their mother
about this.

Cathleen asks Nora whether she asked the priest if he thought it would be okay if their brother Bartley took the
horses to the Galway fair; Nora replies that he said God would not leave her mother without any son.

The girls wonder if they ought to look at the bundle. Cathleen decides to hide it up in the turf-loft (peat used for
fires) for the time being.

Maurya, the girls' mother, enters. She asks why Cathleen needs more turf and Cathleen explains about the cake,
saying that Bartley might need it. Maurya replies that he will not be leaving today because the priest will stop him.
Nora retorts that he will not, and that Bartley is already down seeing about the boat.

Bartley arrives at the cottage and asks for the rope he bought at Connemara. Maurya tells him he ought to leave it
there because if Michael washes up tomorrow morning they will need it for the deep grave. Bartley does not
agree: he says he has to use it for a halter today, because there will not be another boat for two weeks or more
and he has to sell the horses.

Maurya is piqued and says there has to be a coffin for Michael, especially since she just bought new white boards
with which to build it. Bartley asks why the body would wash up now since they’ve been checking for nine days,
and also how she could think his own boat would be harmed. Maurya refers to the star rising in the night against
the moon, saying that the horses are not worth losing her son. In response Bartley turns to Cathleen and talks to
her about gathering weeds and selling the pig. Maurya is undeterred, saying that if she were left with no sons,
then she and the girls could not survive.

Bartley asks Nora if the ship is coming to the pier; she says it is letting its sails down. Bartley prepares to leave,
telling his family he will be back in two days. Her back to him, Maurya calls him cruel for not listening to an old
woman. Bartley takes the halter and hesitates for a moment at the door. He says he must go, and falteringly tells
her “the blessing of God on you” (64). He leaves. Cathleen asks her mother why she did not bless him, especially as
there is already so much sorrow in the house even without him being unlucky. Her mother simply pokes at the fire.
Nora and Cathleen realize they forgot to give Bartley the cake-bread. They are distressed and blame their senseless
mother for causing chaos in the house. Cathleen gives her the bread and tells her she must go give it to her son so
that “the dark word will be broken” (65). Maurya is reluctant to leave the cottage, but Cathleen tells Nora to give
her mother the walking stick so she can get down there.

Maurya grumbles but departs. The daughters watch her leave and then grab the bundle. Nora tells her sister that
the young priest said two men were rowing a boat and one’s oar struck a body. Cathleen opens the bundle while
they discuss how long it would have taken for the body to get to Donegal.

Nora is dismayed to see that the sock in the bundle is just like one she knit for her brother. She becomes more
upset and wonders aloud that a man who was once a great rower and fisher is now represented merely by a shirt
and sock.

Suddenly, the sisters they hear their mother returning. They hide the clothes and try to conceal their tears. Maurya
comes in slowly and sits by the fire. The bread is untouched. Maurya begins to wail and refuses to answer
Cathleen’s queries. Finally Maurya replies weakly that her heart is broken.

Cathleen looks outside and sees Bartley on the mare with the gray pony behind him and rebukes her mother.
Maurya is still acting oddly, saying that she saw the most fearful thing. The girls ask her to tell them. She explains
she went down to the spring and saw Bartley riding with the pony. As she talks she becomes distressed, and
admits she saw Michael. Cathleen says that this can't be true, but Maurya explains: as Bartley was riding toward
her she tried to bless him, but the words stuck in her throat and she could say nothing; she then looked up and
saw Michael, dressed nicely.

Cathleen starts to wail that they are destroyed. Nora wonders about the young priest saying God would never
leave Maurya without a son. Maurya scoffs and says that her husband, her husband’s father, and six sons have all
died.

The women hear something outside coming from the northeast. Maurya continues to narrate how all of her sons
died. She ends by talking about Patch, who was brought in dripping wet even though it was a dry day. She then
stretches her hand toward the door and women begin to come in, just as they did in the story about Patch’s death.

Cathleen asks her mother again about how she could have seen Michael, handing her the clothes. Nora looks
outside and sees men carrying something with water dripping off of it. Cathleen whispers to the women, asking if
the men are carrying Bartley. The women say that they are.

The men enter and put Bartley on the table. A woman explains that his pony knocked him into the sea and he was
washed out to the white rocks. The women wail and Maurya kneels at the head of the table. She raises her head
and says that, finally, there is nothing else the sea can do to her; she need never pray or cry again when the wind
blows and she will not care even when other women wail.

Maurya drops Michael’s clothes on Bartley’s feet. She speaks to him, saying it is not that she has not prayed for
him but now she will be able to rest. She kneels and crosses herself.

Cathleen asks an old man to make a coffin with the fine white boards. He wonders how Maurya forgot to buy nails.
Cathleen sighs that she is old and broken.

Maurya spreads Michael’s clothes beside the body and sprinkles holy water on them. Nora whispers to Cathleen
that their mother must have loved Michael more than Bartley because she wailed insanely when he died. Cathleen
attributes it to her mother being tired of crying.

Maurya asks God for mercy on the souls of Michael and Bartley and all her deceased sons. She adds that Michael
had a clean burial in the north and Bartley will get a fine white coffin; what more is there to desire, especially in
such a short life?