Debut: Adventure, romance and political intrigue fuel this three-part drama.

It opens in Ireland in 1845, when the Great Potato Famine starved millions, forced thousands to immigrate to the U.S., and intensified the efforts of others to seek independence from Great Britain, which then governed the whole country. 

Among the later group is fiery Rory O'Manion (Pierce Brosnan), a dirt-poor tenant farmer sowing the seeds of rebellion in rural County Galway. In Part 1, though, complications ensue for Rory from his love for Rachel Clement (Kate Mulgrew), a landed British aristocrat and a haughty firebrand in her own right. Their stormy affair, played out in Irish-filmed locales, lays the groundwork for a tale of pride and prejudice and hope and tragedy that carries over into America, where the story continues tomorrow and concludes on Friday at this time.