# Colonel O'Mara — Short Fiction character guide

> Colonel O'Mara in Short Fiction by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** O'Mara, young O'Mara, Richard O'Mara, Richard

**First appearance:** 0009-a-chapter-in-the-history-of-a-tyrone-family

## Snapshot

An ailing colonel whose youthful follies and family estate set the stage for a haunting that will reach his son and heir.

## Who they are

Colonel O'Mara owns the estates around the old abbey, but his declining health keeps him and his lady away from the castle, leaving his son Richard and the ambiguous companion Edward Dwyer to their own devices. His past as a 'gay man—perhaps worse' has bound Dwyer to him through some unspoken early service, a debt that shadows the household. His absence is the quiet engine of the story: it frees the young man whose passions will drive the coming catastrophe.

## In the story

### [The Bridal of Carrigvarah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/the-bridal-of-carrigvarah)

Absent from the country due to declining health; shows unexpected tenderness toward Ellen Heathcote after his son's betrayal.

### [An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/an-adventure-of-hardress-fitzgerald-a-royalist-captain)

Mentioned as a figure who might have been involved in the events, though not directly appearing.

### [III: The Priest’s Adventures in the Glen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/iii-the-priest-s-adventures-in-the-glen)

The father of the young ladies, who remains hidden in the castle and gradually abandons plans to move to France.

## Links

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