| 1 | | | RED |
| | Tim | | An ex- military. |
| | Delia | Garrett | One of the patients. |
| | Ita | Noonan | One of the patients. |
| | Eileen | Devine | One of the patients. |
| | Julia | Power | The narrator of the story. A nurse. |
| | Nurse | Cavanagh | A junior nurse. |
| | Noseless | Nichols | One of the stretcher-bearers. |
| | Shaky | O'Shea | One of the stretcher-bearers. |
| | Michael | Groyne | One of the stretcher-bearers. |
| | Gladys | Horgan | One of Julia's great pals. |
| | Sister | Finnigan | One of a lay nurses. |
| | Sister | Luke | One of a lay nurses. |
| | Dr. | Prendergast | An obstetrician. |
| | Marie-Louise | Geoghan | A nurse. |
| | Mr. | Noonan | Ita Noonan's husband. |
| | Bill | Garrett | Delia's husband. |
| | Sister | Benjamin | One of the nuns. |
| | Sister | Benedict | One of the nuns. |
| | Liam | Caffrey | Tim's friend. |
| | Dr. K. | Lynn | A physician. |
| | Bridie | Sweeney | Julia Power's helper. |
| | Clarissa | | Delia Garrett's second daughter. |
| | Mary | O'Rahilly | A new patient. |
| | Dr. | MacAuliff | A general surgeon. |
| | Granny | | Ita Noonan's neighbor. |
| 2 | | | BROWN |
| | Father | Xavier | A retired Roman Catholic chaplain. |
| | Father | Dominic | Father Xavier's successor. |
| | Mr. | O'Rahilly | Mary O'Rahilly's husband. |
| | Honor | White | Julia's new patient. |
| | Mary | Pickford | Canadian-American actress. |
| | Pope Benedict XVI | | Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. |
| | Sean | Connolly | Irish republican and socialist who took part in the Easter Rising. |
| | John | Brown | An American abolitionist leader. |
| 3 | | | BLUE |
| | Dr. Carol | Jellett | A Family Medicine Specialist. |
| | Richard | Wagner | German composer and conductor. |
| | Miss | Ffrench-Mullen | Dr. Lynn's friend. |
| | Eunice | | Mary O'Rahilly's daughter. |
| 4 | | | BLACK |
| | Mrs. | Power | Julia and Tim's mother. |
| | Barnabas | White | Honor White's son. |
