When swimmer Lisa Curry delves into her maternal family past, she finds hard working German immigrants who risked everything to become the masters of their own destiny in Queensland. Lisa's distant relationship with her late father had a profound effect on her life. But by tracing his life and her paternal ancestors in war-torn Ireland, Lisa comes to terms with who her father was, and finally gets to farewell him in her own way.

Kat Stewart's stable and loving upbringing instilled in her a strong sense of ethics, and it's with this belief that she goes on her ancestral journey, seeking characters who were both principled and just a little bit colourful. 

She'll soon discover a strong Irish woman who experienced her fair share of tragedy, and an Englishman who had a pioneering role during a contentious time in Colonial Australia.