# Billy Malowney — Short Fiction character guide

> Billy Malowney in Short Fiction by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Bill, Bill Malowney, Billy, raly Billy, raly Bill Malowney, little Billy

**First appearance:** 0016-billy-malowney-s-taste-of-love-and-glory

## Snapshot

The sporting boy of Carrickadrum, famed as a dancer and hare-killer, who falls hopelessly in love with Molly Donovan and loses all his fun to sighing.

## Who they are

Billy is the darling of every colleen in his district, a scholar of sorts who composes songs in his sweetheart's praise and sings them across the countryside like a bull. But Molly's parents see only his beauty, his gun, and his genius, and no property at all, so his courtship of their daughter meets stubborn resistance. His transformation from roguish sport to lovesick swain, and his refusal to accept that the old people have any right to interfere, drive the tale's comic and ultimately darker turns.

## In the story

### [Billy Malowney's Taste of Love and Glory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/billy-malowney-s-taste-of-love-and-glory)

The protagonist, a lively and handsome young man who falls in love with Molly Donovan, marries her, but after a quarrel is recruited into the army and reportedly killed in battle.

### [The Child That Went with the Fairies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/the-child-that-went-with-the-fairies)

Little Billy, the golden-haired five-year-old boy who is taken by the fairy carriage.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/billy_malowney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters