Emerald's story is a true Irish saga filled with struggle and passion. Born at the turn of the century, Emerald O'Hearn was orphaned at five in Belfast's slums. Almost a victim of her guardian, she runs away and is taken in by nuns. She finds her long lost brothers and takes up residence in Dublin where she works as a nurse. She marries a man who is killed in World War I, is witness to the Irish rebellion of 1917, and has a brief but passionate relationship with Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary. When her brother is killed, she follows her surviving brother to America and eventually marries Michael Scanlon, a man of incredible ambition. Together they sire a dynasty and fight for political success. Emerald never looses her idealism or her passion as she fights for justice and the underprivileged.