David McMaster, a burned out, retired lecturer, returns to Belfast on discovering a cryptic, posthumous note from his friend Roddy, whom he last saw in Northern Ireland 40 years previously. In 1965, David, then a high-flying Oxford graduate, is recruited by Sir John Lockwood to help him look for a site for a new university in Ulster. But what seems like an interesting assignment turns into a tragedy not only for David but also for Catherine, the woman he falls in love with. The sectarian forces which would later tear Northern Ireland apart, are destined to destroy the relationship of the two lovers, with terrible consequences for them both.