The hungry grass by Richard Power

Father Tom Conroy – a spiky, difficult man – dies at a reunion of his seminary colleagues. As this masterly novel unfolds, we learn about the life that formed this troublesome priest. Tom Conroy knows his life has been a failure; his decision to become a priest was itself an impulsive act, and he has little conventional faith in the dogmas of his church. He ministers to the eccentric, the old and the dying, and despises the thrusting modernisers of church and state like his uncle, a corrupt local politician.