Bridget has always been the one to take on the responsibility for looking after her family. With a drunken, violent mother, an unemployed brother who can't stay out of pub brawls and a wayward sister vulnerable to the smooth talk of shady men, it's hardly surprising when she falls for cheeky local lad, Ernie. But when he breaks her heart, she is drawn to the kind figure of Joe, despite the bad boys of the criminal underworld who lurk in the shadows and seem to have him in their sights. Bridget and Joe try hard to keep a hold on their livelihoods and to keep to the straight and narrow path, but misfortune dogs them and it seems that happiness is always just out of reach…