Jack Sammon waits in jail on remand for a horrific crime that has scarred the community, wrestling with his memory and scribbling the details of his life in a school copy-book. Jack grows up on a small farm in a close-knit West of Ireland community with his mother, older brother, and baby sister. He might have overcome the untimely death of his father had his mother's disastrous choice of a second partner not alienated the support of their neighbours, an act that sets Jack on a risky life path. He is drawn to local eccentric Irene, who reveals to him secrets about his family that will shake him to his core.