Tara Road PQT

Not knowing each other and 5,000 kilometers apart, Marilyn Vine and Ria Lynch are both going through a crisis. Living in suburban Connecticut, upper middle class Marilyn and her college professor husband Greg Vine's fifteen year old son Dale Vine has just died in a tragic accident. Unable to cope, Marilyn views her marriage as one of the collateral damages of Dale's death. Through a misunderstanding, Dublin residing Ria learns from her property manager husband Danny Lynch that not only does he not want to have another child with her as she was wanting, but that he has fallen in love with another woman who in turn is pregnant with his child. Rather than the planned Hawaiian getaway with Greg, Marilyn tries to contact Danny, who Greg had long ago met at a business function, to arrange a two month house swap with someone in Dublin, Marilyn who feels the need to go somewhere to be by herself. Who she manages to contact is Ria, who feels the need to get away from her own situation, she on the spot agreeing to the house swap, with Ria and Danny's two children, teenaged Annie and adolescent Brian, staying with Danny for the first month before they would join her in Connecticut. Beyond reserved Marilyn keeping the issue of Dale from anyone in Ireland including Ria and Ria feeling the need to tell everyone in the States about Danny leaving her, neither Marilyn or Ria know what to expect in their new surroundings. Beyond the unofficial welcoming committee on each side comprised of Marilyn and Ria's closest friends, both Marilyn and Ria make a special connection with someone in the other's life, Marilyn with restaurateur Colm Maguire, who is tending to Ria's garden in her absence, and Ria with Greg's Los Angeles visiting brother, Andy Vine. Beyond these connections, each of Marilyn and Ria's lives at home continue without them, they who will have to deal with these changes after the two months are over. However, they may view these changes through a slightly different view of their lives based on their new experiences.