Riders to the sea

By J. M. Synge

Subjects: Seafaring life, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, British and irish drama (dramatic works by one author), Plays, Mothers and sons, Fiction, Drama, Drowning victims, English literature

Description: It must have been on Synge's second visit to the Aran Islands that he had the experience out of which was wrought what many believe to be his greatest play. The scene of Riders to the Sea is laid in a cottage on Inishmaan, the middle and most interesting island of the Aran group. While Synge was on Inishmaan, the story came to him of a man whose body had been washed up on the far away coast of Donegal, and who, by reason of certain peculiarities of dress, was suspected to be from the island.