Act Two, Scene One Summary

Act two follows a few days after the action of Act one. Yolland and Owen are busy trying to change Irish place names into their English equivalents. Yolland has become comfortable in the hedge-school and is enjoying his work. The men take into consideration the sound of the current Irish name and its meaning as well as the English translation of the current Irish name when coming up with a new English name for each place. Owen is frustrated the men are not making better progress on their work. Lancey has also been putting pressure on Yolland to finish the place names more quickly. As Owen and Yolland work, Manus enters the room. Yolland attempts to talk to Manus, but Manus refuses to talk to him in English. Manus admits he is confused by people like Yolland...