In 1892 Western Ireland, Joseph Donnelly and his brothers work as tenant farmers on land owned by the wealthy Daniel Christie. When Joseph’s father, Joe Donnelly, is hurt during a peasant uprising, he appears to die, but, in a miraculous turn, comes back to life as Joseph hovers over him. Joe urges his son to follow his ambitions, says that land is a man’s soul, then dies again. On the way to his father’s burial, Joseph is harassed over unpaid rent by Daniel Christie’s enforcer, Stephen Chase, who burns the Donnellys’ house down. Vowing revenge, Joseph takes a gun and rides his donkey to a pub frequented by Daniel Christie. When a well-dressed man arrives, Joseph finds him affable at first, until he realizes the man is Daniel Christie. He follows Christie home, but cannot bring himself to shoot. After spending the night in Christie’s stable, Joseph is discovered by Shannon, Christie’s beautiful daughter, who spears the intruder’s leg with a pitchfork. and screams for her father. Daniel arrives, and Joseph draws his gun, announcing his intentions to kill the man. However, he aims poorly, and the recoil causes him to fall over. An unconscious Joseph is taken to an upstairs bedroom, where Daniel’s wife, Nora, tends to his wounds. Although Joseph is due to be hanged, he provokes Stephen Chase, who challenges him to a duel the next morning. That night, Shannon sneaks into Joseph’s room and announces that she is running away. She calls herself a modern woman, and states her plans to sail to America, where the government is giving away land to its citizens. Joseph does not believe her. Shannon offers to take him with her, if he will act as her “servant boy,” but he is offended and refuses. The next morning, when the duel between Stephen and Joseph begins, a heavy fog prevents them from seeing each other clearly. Shannon interrupts on a horse-drawn carriage, and entices Joseph to escape with her. She pays for his passage to America, and he reluctantly acts as her servant on the ship. Shannon meets Mr. McGuire, an Irish-American man who advises her to procure a wagon and horses the minute she arrives in America, as the land race will be in Oklahoma, 1,000 miles from where they land in Boston, Massachusetts. Shannon reveals that instead of money, she has brought with her a number of valuable, ancient spoons. McGuire promises to help her sell them when they arrive in Boston. Shannon ignores Joseph when he suggests McGuire is untrustworthy. Soon, the ship docks at Boston Harbor, and Joseph bids Shannon goodbye. She joins Mr. McGuire, who is suddenly shot dead by two thugs. Shannon’s spoons spill out of McGuire’s coat, and she realizes he stole from her. Passersby scramble for the spoons, and as she cries out for help, Joseph comes to her aid. They follow a young Irish boy named Dermody to a social club owned by Mike Kelly, a powerful ward boss who runs a gambling racket. Joseph urges Shannon to blend in with the lower classes and tells Kelly she is his sister. Kelly arranges for them to share a room at a local boardinghouse, and the two begin working at a chicken factory. Shannon detests the work and insults her boss, resulting in lost wages. As they are forced to live in close quarters, sexual tension between Shannon and Joseph mounts. One night, she asks him if she is beautiful, and he responds earnestly that he has never seen anything like her. Satisfied, she goes to sleep. Joseph is tortured by the sound of lovemaking coming through the walls. He goes to Mike Kelly’s social club and challenges a boxer to a match. Despite his smallish stature, Joseph beats the man and his subsequent challengers. He wins prizefighting money and quickly gains a reputation as an undefeated boxer. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, Daniel Christie reveals to his wife, Nora, that Shannon has been sending letters from America. Just then, angry peasants storm the house and burn it down. In the aftermath of the attack, Stephen Chase offers to accompany the Christies to America to help them find Shannon. In Boston, as Joseph gains confidence and spends money on suits and hats, Shannon becomes annoyed by his cocksure attitude. She is also jealous when a burlesque dancer named Grace pursues him. Shannon warns Joseph that Mike Kelly is only using him and asserts that she can make just as much money as he can. On the night of a big fight against an Italian boxer, Joseph sees Shannon dancing in burlesque. He tries to drag her off the stage, and promises not to box anymore. However, when Kelly lures him with more money, Shannon encourages Joseph to go through with the match. The Italian beats him easily, however, and Kelly immediately turns on Joseph, throwing him into the street. When he regains consciousness, Joseph stumbles home. On the way, he sees Stephen Chase passing out photographs of Shannon, and alerting people to bring her to the Christie’s Boston residence if they find her. Joseph returns home to find Kelly and his heavies waiting. Taking all of Joseph’s savings, they throw him and Shannon out of the boardinghouse. For the next few days, Joseph and Shannon wander the streets in freezing weather, searching for work and food. One night, they break into an empty mansion. The well-appointed home reminds Shannon of her old life. Joseph offers to serve her at the dining table, but instead, she invites him to sit with her and pretend they are a married couple. Just as they profess their “pretend” love for each other, the owners return home and chase them out at gunpoint. Shannon is shot in the back as they flee, and Joseph has no other choice but deliver her to her parents. Eight months later, while working on a railroad crew in the Ozark Mountains, Joseph is inspired to join a wagon train of pioneers on their way to the Oklahoma land rush. He arrives at the starting line the day before the race, and buys an old but reliable horse. He runs into Shannon, who is accompanied by her parents and Stephen Chase. They wish each other luck and bid an awkward goodbye. That night, Joseph’s newly purchased horse dies. His only choice the next morning is to ride an untamed horse. As the race begins, Joseph has a hard time controlling the animal, but Shannon, who is an expert equestrian, rides past and advises him to take the horse by the bit. Joseph follows Stephen, who claims he has found the perfect plot of land. Arriving at the edge of the plot, Joseph sees Stephen and Shannon crossing a river. Stephen attempts to shoot him, but Joseph overpowers him and charges ahead. He is the first to reach the flag that marks the plot, but just before he drives his own flag into the ground, Chase charges him. They tussle, and Joseph is pinned underneath Chase’s horse. Shannon rushes to Joseph’s aid. When Chase realizes that Shannon has chosen Joseph over him, he leaves in defeat. Shannon begs Joseph not to die, but he passes away. As she weeps over his lifeless body, she admits she loved him the first time she saw him. Like his father, Joe, on his deathbed, Joseph miraculously revives. Shannon kisses him, and they drive their flag into the ground together.