The Fahey family has lived in the same townhouse in the city of Galway, Ireland, for more than thirty years. Martha Fahey grew up there, and is preparing to raise her daughter in the same environment, with the help of her parents—but when the new baby arrives, something from the past is reborn.
The sounds of an infant crying keep them awake at night, but Martha's daughter is fast asleep. In the following weeks, household items disappear mysteriously and a penetrating cold envelops the house. The family fears that they are victims of a haunting, and that Martha's infant child is the target. They contact the Catholic Church, but a visiting priest is unable to help.
Finally, a spiritual healer reveals that the newborn child has stirred up the psychic energy of a terrible crime committed many years ago – and uncovered wounds that prayer alone cannot heal.