It's 1935, America is deep in the Great Depression, and the McCourt family is doing something unheard of - they're leaving New York to return to Ireland. Due to the recent death of their infant daughter and the lack of jobs for Malachy (ROBERT CARLYLE), the alcoholic patriarch, the impoverished family returns to Limerick where unemployment, starvation and death from the constantly damp weather are just as bad or worse than in the Big Apple.
There, the mother, Angela (EMILY WATSON), hopes that her family will be able to help, but the reception from her mother, Grandma Sheehan (RONNIE MASTERSON), sister Aggie (PAULINE McLYNN), and brother Pat (EANNA MACLIAM) is decidedly less than warm. That's due not only to their disdain toward Malachy and the fact that he's a protestant from Belfast now living in a predominantly Catholic town, but also because of the negative influence he has on their family and children.
Their oldest son, Frank (JOE BREEN), tries to be a normal kid, but must not only contend with them being poor, but also his somewhat bewildering experiences with school as well as his first communion and confession. Even so, he loves his dad and enjoys hearing his many stories, even if Malachy can't hold down a job and spends what little money they have on drinking binges.
As the years pass, Frank (CIARAN OWENS) has grown up to the age of ten where he spends his time playing with friends, has become fixated on girls, and eventually gets a job delivering coal to support his family. Then, after more years have passed, Malachy has left for England to get a job, and Frank (MICHAEL LEGGE), now sixteen, is still interested in girls and continues working in hopes of helping his family and then earning enough money to escape his downtrodden life for a better one back in America.