In this thoughtful black-and-white drama, the story of a priest living and working on Clare Island in County Mayo, Ireland is shown. Except for his vocation, he is a fairly normal fellow, so when a lovely woman is fished out of the sea and delivered into his care, he can't help but notice that she's easy to look at. Eventually she becomes his housekeeper, and before too long she is his mistress. Soon, she is visibly pregnant, and the priest must explain to his tolerant parishioners what has been going on. However, he must also explain the same events to his considerably less-understanding bishop. The way he chooses to do this is to write a novel about the whole thing. The ensuing publicity upsets the bishop even more than the events themselves, and throughout the film the bishop is seen writing his response to this errant shepherd.