At first glance, one might not imagine that the Donnelly twins play an important role in Brian Friel's play Translations. However, upon a closer look, it becomes apparent that this work would have much less meaning if these characters were not introduced. Although they never appear physically, their actions trigger conflict between the English and the Irish, as well as bringing out the main problem in the plot. The first time we hear of the Donnelly twins is when Manus asks Doalty and Bridget if they will come to the school for Act I lesson. After Doalty clearly avoids answering the question, Bridget states: "Our Seamus says that two of the soldiers' horses were found last night at the foot of the cliffs at Machaire Buide and..." (page 15) and then stops promptly as if he has said too much. From the beginning, Friel gives us the sense that the twins are cunning and mysterious. We can infer that they drove the horses off the cliff due to the context of the conversation. What would have driven them to do this? What drives these men to kill their animals? To understand this, we need to further understand the relationship between the English and the Irish. For 800 years, England occupied Ireland, oppressing its religious beliefs and destroying its culture by force. In the play, the soldiers are in Ballybeg to remap all of Ireland and standardize all Gaelic names into English. By doing this they actually hindered Irish culture, making many of them angry. The Donnelly twins harass the soldiers because they are unhappy with their stay in Ballybeg. After the night of the ball, Yolland, an English lieutenant, mysteriously of...... middle of paper...... The first is Doalty's joke about mapping the soldiers. Secondly, the twins push the horses towards the cliff. They later kill Lieutenant Yolland. Eventually, the English camp is set on fire and the Irish plan to revolt. We can assume, due to their previous actions, that the Donnelly twins are responsible for the fire. Just like in real moments of tension in a community, things continued to spiral out of control as neither culture yielded to the other. The Donnelly twins are very important characters in Brian Friel's Translations. Not only do they symbolize many types of people in Ireland, but they also move the story along and present us with the great conflict that occurs. The Donnelly twins embody all the actions taken by the Irish to regain their freedom and show us the major tensions that were occurring in Ireland during the period in which this play was performed..