# Mr. Kernan — Dubliners character guide

> Mr. Kernan in Dubliners by James Joyce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Kernan

**First appearance:** 0013-grace

## Snapshot

A tea merchant with a veteran's pride in his drinking, propped on pillows while his friends quietly plot his salvation in the parlour below.

## Who they are

Mr. Kernan has a stinging tongue, puffy cheeks like warm cinders, and a wife who has spent twenty-five years healing him without complaint. He books even small orders and never turns violent, so his intemperance passes as climate rather than crisis—until Cunningham, M'Coy, and Power decide to steer him toward a Jesuit retreat. He lies in bed apologising for the disorder of the room while looking at his guests a little proudly, unaware he is the object of a plot, and that oblivious dignity is the story's whole tender joke.

## In the story

### [Grace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dubliners_se/chapters/grace)

The injured protagonist, a lapsed Catholic of Protestant background, who is subtly manipulated by his friends into returning to the Church.

## Links

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