A young woman with a father who fences stolen property and a young man whose father is a lowly farmer get married in a wedding marred by quarrelsome relatives and quick-tempered family friends. After that inauspicious start, their life together spirals somewhat out of control. The father of the bride sends his daughter and son-in-law to Northern Ireland to pick up some electronic equipment, and on the way, they give a ride to someone clearly on the wrong side of the law, perhaps an IRA activist. While returning from their errand, they have an accident that propels them into new relationships and subsequently brings out the information that the woman may have been sexually abused by her father. In the meantime, the husband robs a post office and the two of them have to escape capture. As they are eluding the police, they run into the possible IRA activist again and decide to go to London. But the young man has a score to settle with his father-in-law, and he returns to confront him, and to let him know that his van was trashed in the accident - a scenario that leads to anger and sets the course for the future activities of the young couple and their newly-found activist friend.