# Gretta Conroy — Dubliners character guide

> Gretta Conroy in Dubliners by James Joyce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gretta

**First appearance:** 0014-the-dead

## Snapshot

Gabriel's wife, whose ear for an old song and a buried West of Ireland love quietly unsettles everything her husband believes about her.

## Who they are

Gretta moves through the Misses Morkan's annual dance as the graceful, laughing wife of the evening's star—until a melody on the stairs stops her cold and carries her somewhere Gabriel cannot follow. She is practical, warm, and entirely her own person, which is precisely what her husband has never quite noticed. Her private grief, held apart from the party's chatter, becomes the story's turning point: the moment the living learn they have been sharing a room with the dead.

## Relationships

### [Gabriel Conroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/gabriel_conroy)

_family_

Husband and wife; Gabriel loves Gretta but is emotionally disconnected from her inner life and past.

### [Gabriel Conroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/gabriel_conroy)

_family_

Husband and wife; Gabriel loves Gretta but is emotionally disconnected from her inner life and past.

### [Gabriel Conroy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/gabriel_conroy)

_family_

Husband and wife; Gabriel loves Gretta but is emotionally disconnected from her inner life and past.

## In the story

### [The Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/chapters/the-dead)

Gabriel's wife, who is deeply moved by a song and later reveals her past love for Michael Furey.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters/gretta_conroy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/characters