Catholic-Irish farm girl Kate, along with her gregarious best friend Baba, moves to Dublin to pursue a more exciting life.

Sean Thornton has returned from America to reclaim his homestead and escape his past. Sean’s eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher, the beautiful spinster and younger sister of ill-tempered “Red” Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will’s pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the plot, with Sean’s past as the dark undercurrent.