Setting

Friel's play is set in "the home of the Mundy family, two miles outside the village of Ballybeg, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1936." While County Donegal is a real geographic location (where Friel himself resides), the village of Ballybeg is Friel's fictional creation, utilized as a setting in many of his plays. Act I takes place in early August, and Act II takes place three weeks later, in early September. The historical setting of 1936 is significant for several reasons. The family's acquisition of their first wireless radio provides the novelty of modern technology and popular culture during that time. The historical setting is also relevant to the intrusion of the Industrial Revolution on rural Ireland. At the beginning of the play, Agnes and Rose support the family by knitting at home. A knitting factory, however, is opened nearby, and the supplier for whom they work loses all of her...