This is a story about a young woman and the conflict she encounters as part of three different families. Each family is part of the Irish speaking community.
Fionnuala is the main character. In her home we see a typical Gaeltacht family in Dublin. The family is trying to satisfy everyone by raising the children through Irish in the Northside of Dublin. They are struggling with their own identity and with ‘normal’ life. There is constant pressure from the English speaking world, and the family’s dynamics work around this pressure.
In college there is energy and anger to be felt regarding the current sate of the language. This family is making every effort to promote the language, but perhaps not in the right way. The conflict in college stems from the students class backgrounds and their attitudes towards the language.
Fionnuala meets a new family when she begins teaching an Irish class to complete beginners. The class are mostly foreign and want to assimilate themselves into the new life they have found in Ireland.
Fionnuala finds what she’s been looking for after giving these classes. She realises that there is hope for the language and she finds courage from this.