Fr Peter Clifford, a young English priest from Manchester, arrives in Wicklow to take up the position of curate in the tiny village of Ballykissangel. When there is a hold up with the bus, he decides to walk the three miles to the village as it is such a beautiful day.

However, forty shades of green soon turns to forty shades of grey when it starts to bucket down. He is offered a lift by the young, attractive Assumpta Fitzgerald who owns the local bar. She is none too fond of either the English, or the Clergy and she's highly amused when she discovers that he is both! However, they reach a certain understanding when he wakes her up in the middle of the night to drive him up the mountain to deliver the last rites to a dying man. But, they are too late and Assumpta tries to tell him that it doesn't matter. But, he makes her see that it does matter to the man's wife. She is also highly amused to see the new, high-tech confessional being delivered to the church, especially when Peter has to talk his way out of it.