In 1872, twelve-year-old John Walsh is sent by his widowed mother to live with his aunt and uncle on their farm in Bath Township, Ohio. The Walshes are Irish immigrants in a community where family ties go back many generations, and their Catholic faith sets them apart from their Protestant neighbors. John is befriended by Ann Miller, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer, but their friendship is threatened by a scandal which has divided the Walsh and Miller families. As they leave childhood behind, each must find a way to overcome the barriers that separate them, and in the process they learn the meaning of family, faith, and love.