While courting his wealthy cousin Anne, Killarney collegian Hardress Cregan embarks on a passionate affair with the lowly, but beautiful, Eily O'Connor. Knowing that his family would never approve of this match, he secretly marries Eily, but then, succumbing to his mother's machinations, he also becomes engaged to Anne. Together with his hunchback half-brother, Danny Mann, Hardress hatches a deadly conspiracy to extricate himself from his dilemma. Originally published in 1829, and inspired by a celebrated criminal case, Gerald Griffin's novel was a sensation in its day and inspired many imitations, while transforming Killarney into a celebrated tourist attraction.