Overview
From the acclaimed playwright of Faith Healer and Dancing at Lughnasa, this hauntingly lyrical play is about nothing less than language as the soul of a nation. Set in 1833 in Ireland, it tells of the British army's campaign to replace the native Gaelic place names with English ones in an attempt to end centuries of fighting by setting up a political union based on a common language. Against a beautiful backdrop, Lieutenant Yolland, a British soldier, falls in love with Maire, a peasant girl, and with Ireland. Their romance sparks displeasure and anger in the Irish and English alike, and when Yolland goes missing, the mutual revenge taken threatens to tear the countryside apart.