J.M. Synge, at the suggestion of one of the founders of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, visited the Arran Islands to live and learn the speech of the native Irish. There, the speech and customs were such that a man who had the courage to murder his "old da", if he deserved it, could become a hero. From that idea comes this story that poetically immortalizes the Irish people, starring James Lancaster, Bairbre Dowling, and Sean McClory, all past members of the Abbey Theatre.