The Irishman's Song

The Irishman's Song is played against seven charged years of Irish and American history, moving through the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, the 1919-21 brutal Anglo-Irish War of Independence, into 1922 and the Irish Civil War. In 1916, Kate Flanagan, whose father and husband are killed in rebel movements, is desperate to leave Ireland. Sean, her teenage son, is reluctant to go but feels it is his responsibility to stay with the family. Settled in a small Pennsylvania town, Kate becomes housekeeper in a doctor's home and Sean finds work on the canal and the local newspaper. The doctor's young daughter becomes attracted to Sean. Though building a life in America, Sean never loses the feel for his place of birth. He stays in touch with his young friend Molly O'Neill and follows the involvement of his Uncle Seamus in the IRA. When offered the opportunity, he is faced with the decision to return.