In the true story of Desmond Doyle (Pierce Brosnan), his wife has abandoned his family, leaving him to raise the three children on his own. Unfortunately, Irish law prohibits children from being raised in a broken home, and the children are soon taken from him. His daughter Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur) gives him the will to fight for what is his right, his family. With the help of some friends at the local pub he embarks on a fight against the law that will not allow him to raise his own children. The local barmaid Bernadette Beattie (Julianna Margulies), her lawyer brother Michael (Stephen Rea), and an American friend who is also a lawyer Nick (Aidan Quinn) he takes the fight right to the supreme court of Ireland.