- A 12-year-old girl traumatised by her father's neglect seeks solace in a relationship with her loving grandfather. Her grandfather's sudden death becomes the catalyst for her to run away and escape the pain of her childhood.
- Twelve-year-old Ella Rose Sands lives in rural Northern Ireland with her cattle dealer father Joe and grandfather James Doran. Seamus O'Hara is an angry, introverted man who cannot give his daughter the love or support she needs. Declan in contrast, is gentle and considerate and teaches Aoife about cattle and her favourite story; The Cattle Raid of Cooley. After a day working with his dairy cattle, Joe heads to the pub. Aofie and Declan sit in the kitchen of their farmhouse, retelling the story of Queen Maeve and her fight with her husband Ailill, over a prize bull. Joe comes home drunk and chides them for wasting time reading, 'stupid fairy stories'. The next day Aoife witnesses a bitter argument between Joe and Declan. There has been a local outbreak of Tuberculosis and Declan warns Joe about taking his prize bull Hercules off the farm in case he is exposed. Joe is desperate for the money he will get for hiring out his bull and it is clear that he won't listen to a, 'stupid old man'. We learn that Aoife's mother (Declan's daughter) had an affair and left. Declan is visibly weakened by the fight. As Joe loads bags of feed into his truck, Aoife tries to make conversation with him, promising to get up at 4am to help him move cattle. He ignores her and drives off to the pub. Aoife goes home to have tea with Declan but when she enters the house she finds him dead. Aoife runs down the mountain and into the village, where she finds Joe in the pub. At home, Aoife blames Joe for Declan's death and says she 'hates him' and tells him she only stayed because of, 'Grandpy and the Cattle'. Aoife says she hopes that Queen Maeve puts a curse on Joe's cattle. Several days later, the vet arrives to give Hercules his regular test for Tuberculosis. To Joe's horror Hercules tests positive and will have to be destroyed. Joe's dairy herd will be placed in isolation and Joe will have no income for months. He is distraught . Later Aoife goes to the pub to try to apologise for putting the curse. Joe is bitter and tells her that in the old days fairies who put curses had their wombs ripped out and could never bear a child. Aoife is terrified but also experiences a new feeling - of rage. That night, she builds up the courage to leave home and flees into the night. We meet Lucy Donnelly again ten years later, when she has invited Joe to a restaurant to tell him that she is pregnant. She has lifted the curse of her past. Joe understands the damage he has done and we see the possibility of redemption and a rebuilding of their relationship.
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