It is August 1936 at harvest time in the small village of Ballybeg in County Donegal. There live the five Mundy sisters, barely making ends meet, their ages ranging from twenty-six up to forty.

The two male members of the household are brother Jack, a missionary priest, repatriated from Africa by his superiors after twenty-five years, and Michael, the seven-year-old child of the youngest sister. Narrated by Michael as an adult, the play depicts two days in the lives of five remarkable women.