Leaving her loving family behind, seventeen-year-old Oonagh seeks to escape the potato famine in 19th century Ireland and make a better life for herself in England. However, life in the industrialised mill town of North West England was far removed from the emerald-green fields of her homeland. Social unrest and squalid housing conditions along with religious intolerance lead to a raging street battle between the Irish immigrants and the English. The story follows a pregnant Oonagh's struggles and sufferings in the overcrowded disease-ridden north west town, until she overcomes prejudice and hardship and finally finds friendship and true love.