Two old women, trapped in a remote Irish town of gossip and fish, obsessively relive the time when, as 17-year-olds, they were nearly seduced at the New Electric Ballroom by Roller Doyle, the singer in a touring band. Meanwhile Patsy, the fishmonger hovers, desperate to be invited in to break the monotony of fish and cobbled streets. Urged on by Ada, their younger companion, the three women strip and wash him while he confesses to being Roller Doyle's love-child.