Sean Curran (Donal Donnelly) awaits his execution in Galway prison by the British during the "Black and Tan War". This is very unpopular with the Irish public who consider him a hero. A sizable crowd of nuns and other demonstrators continually parade around, chanting the rosary. The British warden (Joseph O'Dea) allows two "nuns" (Doreen Madden and Maureen Cusack), one of them claiming to be Curran's grieving "sister", to visit him briefly; the false sister (an American citizen) swaps clothes and places with Curran in his cell while the lights have gone out during a deliberately staged power outage. Unsuspecting Police Sergeant Michael O'Hara (Denis O'Dea) helps the pair exit into a waiting carriage. He notices that one is wearing high heels, but thinks little of it. When the executioner comes, Curran's false sister is revealed, but as an American, she is immune from arrest.