It is August 1878 in County Donegal, Ireland, at the Lodge, the decaying home of the Gores, a family of English aristocrats. The time is just before the onset of agrarian reform, the movement that would begin to restore Ireland to the Irish. Christopher Gore, an unassuming, kindly landlord, longs for the peace of his home county in England, a place his family hasn't lived in generations, but his true home is here in Ireland, where he is no longer welcome. The problem worsens when his cousin, Richard, arrives to conduct anthropological experiments on the native Irish. He hopes to prove, using skull measurements and other eugenic methods, that they are inferior to the English. Christopher is afraid the experiments will offend the locals, which, of course, they do. Much of Richard's ridiculous science is played for laughs, but the racism and casual superiority he exhibits are anything but amusing. Christopher must make a choice in the end whether to support his cousin or to show loyalty to his tenants. Calm seems to be restored, but the audience knows that the Troubles are just around the corner.
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