This telefilm focuses on the small Irish seaside town of Castle Bay in the 1950s. Clare O'Brien is a precocious student; Angela O' Hara is a teacher who sacrificed her dreams for her family; Gerry Doyle is the handsome charmer; and David Power is the doctor's son. With Angela's encouragement, shopkeeper's daughter Clare pursues higher education, eventually leaving Castle Bay for Dublin. Also in Dublin is David Power who is attending medical school there. He and Clare fall in love despite the class difference that his mother abhors. But David isn't the only one who loves Clare-she has also become the focal point of Gerry Doyle's unhealthy attention. Soon, everything gets more complicated as Clare and David are forced to make serious decisions that bring them back home. In the meantime, Angela deals with her wayward priest of a brother, town gossips, and grows closer to Dick Dillon, a recovering alcoholic. Will anyone find happiness in Castle Bay?
