Set in 1958, the story follows Maureen who has just crossed the Irish border into the Bogside of Derry in Northern Ireland to set up a new life for herself and her fatherless son. She soon meets and marries a young man named Barry but is soon trapped by his conservative ideas about women and motherhood. She gradually develops friendships with other strong-willed women like Mrs D and Annie demonstrating the segregation within marriage characteristic of the time period. The film ends in 1968 with the arrival of British troops as peacekeepers in the region.