Tony Egan lives in the small island village, of Inishdaragh. He receives a letter from his estranged sister, Karen, who had left for America, twenty years previously. She is dying and her last wish is that her ashes be returned to Ireland. She also asks Tony if he will look after her son Chad as he has no other living relatives.

When Chad arrives, he revives a dark episode in Tony's' past. As Chad tries to discover more about his mother, old conflicts and secrets resurface. Only Karen's' best friend, Brenda, holds the key to the mystery that Tony and O'Brady, the local pub owner, have kept secret for years.