The first half of Act I opens in a cottage on the Aran Islands, where Nora returns to her older sister, Cathleen, with news. The priest, she says, has given her a bundle of clothing for her and Cathleen to examine; he wants them to determine if the items, discovered on the shore, belonged to their brother Michael, who has been missing. Nora explains that the priest thinks it not worth upsetting their mother over Michael’s possible death unless they know for certain that the clothing is his. According to Nora, the priest will not stop their brother, Bartley, from crossing the “middling bad” sea that day, as he feels confident that God will not take Maurya’s last son from her, since he helps sustain the family (94). Hearing their mother stir in the next room, Cathleen hides the bundle in the turf-loft, or the lofted part of the cottage ceiling where they kept turf for tending the fire in the hearth.

Maurya, their mother, appears, and Cathleen explains that she has been preparing bread for Bartley for a possible trip across the sea to Connemara. Bartley arrives and confirms that he must take the outgoing boat that day.