Jack Gogarty, approaching old age makes a pilgrimage to the village in Wicklow where he had spent one summer as a boy. He recalls the mystical happenings of that strange and wonderful summer and discovers that the simple yet mysterious ways of the country people far outweigh the so-called advantages of modernity. The village is set in its ways combining their Christian faith with some of the ancient beliefs that were there long before the arrival of St. Patrick. When Father Vaughan arrives as the new parish priest his mission is to stamp out any hint of the old ways and lead the parish back to normalcy, but he has taken on a far harder task than he realizes. The people don't like his authoritarian ways and Vaughan becomes more and more angry always looking for even sterner ways to bring the people around. Filled with shocks, surprises and mystery, the story unfolds through the richness of the Irish countryside, its characters, their conflicts and their resolutions. And always there's the unspoken presence of the force behind the magic. There is also a great sense of laughter at the center of it all