The book is divided into 3 sections: Maura's Boy describes the first ten years of the life of Christy Kenneally, a working-class Cork north-sider who lost his mother when he was five years old. The book is as much about the place as the narrator, and beautifully conveys the sense of a lost golden age. Kenneally's new material tells the story of life after coming to grips with the death of his mother. The New Curate picks up the narrative when Kenneally is twenty-four and is appointed chaplain to 'The Incurable', St Patrick's Hospital on Wellington Road. The account of his three years there with terminal cancer patients and his other job as spiritual director for five Cork secondary schools makes an unforgettable story which combines laughter and sorrow - and an occasional miracle.