Three elderly ladies tire of living in an old people's home and when they heard that they are about to be separated, they make a bid for freedom. They escape to an island off the Irish coast and are about to occupy a group of cottages when the owner, an Irish millionaire, just returned from making his fortune in America, appears on the scene.

Three elderly women, Rosie, a sharp-witted Cockney; Dora, a clever organizer; and genteel Mabel, escape from the Sunset Old Folks' Home and accidentally set out to sea in a motorboat. A Russian trawler picks them up and puts them ashore on a secluded Irish island, and there the women commandeer three cottages which they later learn have been bought by McDonagh, an Irishman who has recently returned as a millionaire from the United States. McDonagh collapses while singing to Rosie, falls into the sea, and is presumed drowned. The women pretend they are McDonagh's nieces, claiming their uncle is ill and bedridden. To support themselves, they knit sweaters made from local wool. Their garments become fashionable in London, and the women organize the islanders into a prosperous knitting industry. A search for additional wool on another island leads to the discovery of McDonagh, who "adopts" the ladies as his nieces and becomes a partner in their sweater business.