“This is the one boat going for two weeks or beyond it.”

All Maurya’s Men: Maurya has lost all her men to the sea. She has lost her husband, father-in-law, and all six of her sons (Stephen, Shawn, Sheamus, Patch, Michael, and Bartley). When the play begins, Michael is already missing at sea for nine days, he is later found dead. Barley dies during the play. These men are the “riders” in the title. 

Their deaths show how the sea controls life on the island. Every time a man goes out to the sea, it feels like a gamble—they might return with food or money, but they might also never come back.

In short, Riders to the Sea is about the men of the island who are all sea riders. They are trapped by the sea. They cannot escape it because the sea gives them their livelihood. But the same sea also takes their lives.