Robert Mitchum is the rural school master Charles Shaughnessy who, returning home to Ireland in 1916, just after the Easter Rising against the British, falls in love with and marries one of his old pupils, Rosy Ryan. Their happiness is upset by the arrival of a Major who comes to take command of the British Army and is immediately drawn towards Rosy. Political events finally overtake all affairs of the heart, and it is obvious that life in the village of Kirrary will never be the same again. Scripted by Robert Bolt the film also stars Sarah Miles, John Mills, Trevor Howard and Leo McKern.