Journey with James Shields, the Hero of Inishbofin, Aengus O'Flaherty, who fanices himself as a Celtic Warrior but is really a fisherman from Inishmor and Meghan O'Grady whose ancestral home of Doonagore Castle in Doolin Ireland has been taken from her family. Struggling to survive in a land suffering from the potato blight and restrictions on Catholics, the families of these teens seek to send them to America. There the tales are told that the streets are paved with gold. A once imprisoned priest becomes their teacher and shepherd as he leads them to a new land across the sea. James seeks to become a priest, but his vocation is tested when he meets Meghan. Aengus becomes the best mate of James and his big brother as they face first life at sea and then confront the anti-immigrant fervor sweeping across America in the mid 19th century. Despite secret societies and political activists known as the "know-nothings", murder and arson, they form a pact with others of their own kind and become a singing group which is soon proclaimed as the Bards of New York City by the press but known to all as the"Celtic Warriors."

The silent ringing of the cracked bell summons them to the City of Brotherly Love, which is anything but loving to them as immigrants and Catholics to boot. Nevertheless they encounter America's greatest actor of the time and soon are swept to new heights, while at the same time struggling with their sexuality, upholding their faith, bonding as mates and facing the darkness in the heart of America, slavery and intolerance.