In a town outside 1970s Belfast working behind the bar of her family pub, serving a mixed crowd including locally stationed soldiers, Catholic schoolteacher Cushla meets Michael, an older Protestant married man, who often defends IRA suspects and is friends with cultured Bohemians who enrage and intrigue her. Worlds apart, Cushla knows a relationship like this spells all kinds of trouble, but they are irresistibly drawn to each other. In a place where loose lips cost lives and danger lurks in the shadows, amid the fear and paranoia, this illicit affair between the pair ignites and burns bright.