Death is training his son in the art and responsibilities of the family business. His son does well until he's sent out on his own to claim an accident victim. Instead, he's asked by a friend of the dying man to help with CPR. Taken aback, he assents, the dying man is resuscitated, and Death's son is in the doghouse with dad. Enraged, pop gives his son 24 hours to deliver a corpse, so the young man sets out to ice the man who asked him for help earlier that day. Junior's target is a young actor, Tom, going through opening night and loved by Sarah, a rather histrionic young woman. A near-Death experience awaits them all as Junior comes of age.
A father of the bride (Eamonn Hunt), usually a teetotaler, gets drunk to cope with the anxiety of delivering his reception speech, because he has a stutter. Mayhem ensues, and the wedding party, including the best man (Cillian Murphy), try to do damage control.
Pig and Runt born on the same day, in the same hospital, moments apart. Twins, all but by bloodline. Inseparable from birth, they are almost telepathic. They are one, needing no one else, inhabiting a delicate, insular and dangerous world where they make their own rules and have their own language. But days before their 17th birthday the balance of their world begins to shift. Pig's sexual awakening and jealousy begins to threaten their private universe.
In Dublin, two couples (Jim and Danielle; Yvonne and Chris) are seemingly living in marital bliss. However, when Chris's behaviour begins to change, Yvonne seeks solace in the arms of Jim, and before long they are in the midst of an affair. When a life-changing secret is later revealed, all four are forced to re-evaluate their lives, their marriages, and their friendships - but can anything be salvaged from the wreckage?
In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.
Set in Ireland, Sharon Curley is a 20 year old living with her parents and many brothers and sisters. When she gets herself pregnant and refuses to name the father, she becomes the talk of the town.
Francie and Joe live the usual playful, fantasy filled childhoods of normal boys. However, with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother the pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When Francie's world turns to madness, he tries to counter it with further insanity, with dire consequences.
"Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing much in the name of the land. When the widow who owns the field decides to sell it in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it. While no local dare bid against him, a wealthy American decides he requires the field to build a highway. "Bull" and his son decide they must try to convince the American to let go of his ambition and return home, but the consequences of their plot prove sinister.
Michael Collins plays a crucial role in the establishment of the Irish Free State in the 1920s, but becomes vilified by those hoping to create a completely independent Irish republic.
When schoolteacher Kieran Johnson (James Caan) discovers that his father was not a French sailor (as he had been led to believe) but rather an Irish farmer, Kieran looks to his mother (Moya Farrelly) for answers. When she refuses to provide any, Kieran travels to Ireland. In flashbacks, we watch a romance develop between Kieran's mother, a college girl, and his father (Aidan Quinn), an inarticulat
Albert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man, so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most posh hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living.