Cillian Murphy plays Bill Furlong, a coalman in County Wexford in the early 80s; a soft-spoken, thoughtful man who has built up a good business through years of hard work, though money worries are never far way. He is married to Eileen (Eileen Walsh), and they have many daughters whose education comes courtesy of the church and whose future weddings will doubtless cause more worry and expense.

One Christmas, good-hearted Bill appears to be on the verge of a midlife breakdown. Long submerged memories are rising to the surface. Bill discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers shocking truths of his own. The church sister (Emily Watson) is icily aware that Bill is now in possession of a secret that could damage her and that, as a man, his (possible) objection would carry far more weight than one from the town’s women. But she has his daughters’ educational future in her hands.