Stuart Carolan's debut play tells the story of a fractured family in present-day Ireland, entrenched in violent and uncompromising republicanism, which finally shatters when a senior figure in the IRA visits the farm to hunt out a suspected informer. Blackly comic and chillingly real, Defender of the Faith explores the conflict between family loyalty and political beliefs. Premiered in the Peacock at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in March 2004, Defender of the Faith is directed by Wilson Milam, best-known for his London staging of Martin McDonagh's award-winning Lieutenant of Inishmore) and of Billy Roche's Wexford Trilogy.