Michael exists in the play simultaneously as an adult narrator and a seven-year-old boy living in Ballybeg. As a child, he spends his time making kites and waiting for the bicycle his absentee father promised him. He is the only male permanently residing in the household full of aunts, making his presence unique. His adult perspective provides the framing for the family's story, looking back on a summer heavily influenced by the arrival of the Marconi radio and his uncle Jack.

Christina is twenty-six years old and the mother of young Michael. Unlike her sisters, she lacks a specific household duty or wage-earning job, making her daily existence in the cottage somewhat aimless. She remains practical about her wandering lover's inability to settle down, yet she completely transforms when they dance together.

At forty years old, Kate is the eldest sister and the undisputed head of the household. She works as a schoolteacher for the local parish, providing the family's only stable income. She is intensely concerned with maintaining a respectable Catholic reputation, aggressively suppressing any behavior she deems pagan or inappropriate, though she privately harbors her own romantic desires.

Rose is a thirty-two-year-old woman described by the family as simple. She knits gloves alongside Agnes to generate extra income for the household. She wears rain boots constantly and enjoys sweets like chocolate biscuits. Unlike her sisters, she actively pursues romantic connections and recognizes the underlying jealousies in the house.

At thirty-eight, Maggie serves as the primary housekeeper and maternal figure in the cottage. She brings a playful, joking energy to the home, frequently singing songs or telling riddles to lighten the mood. She functions as a necessary counterbalance to Kate's strictness, easing domestic tensions while effectively managing the household chores.

Agnes is a quiet, diligent sister who spends her days knitting gloves to sell in town. She acts as a fierce protector for Rose, shielding her from Kate's anger and outside threats. She manages much of the unpaid, heavy domestic labor, such as hauling turf, and silently carries a romantic infatuation that she dare not express.

Jack is the fifty-three-year-old brother of the sisters. He recently returned from twenty-five years of service as a missionary priest in a Ugandan leper colony. Suffering from malaria, he struggles to remember English words and frequently confuses his sisters with his former African house boy. His family previously idolized him as a heroic military chaplain and Catholic saint, but his return reveals he has deeply absorbed Ugandan pagan customs.

Gerry is a Welsh wanderer and Michael's absentee father. He works temporary jobs, such as teaching dance lessons and selling gramophones, never staying in one place for long. He possesses a natural, effortless charm that captivates Christina and Agnes, though his promises of marriage and gifts are rarely fulfilled.

Danny is a local man from the back hills of Ballybeg. He attends the Lughnasa festival and draws the romantic attention of Rose, though her protective sisters view his intentions with deep suspicion.

Austin Morgan is a local store owner in Ballybeg. He represents the kind of respectable, stable, middle-class existence that Kate deeply values and desires to maintain.

Okawa is the Ugandan house boy who worked for Jack during his twenty-five years at the leper colony. Though he remains in Africa, his name is spoken frequently in the Ballybeg cottage as Jack struggles to separate his past from his present.