# Con Donovan — Short Fiction character guide

> Con Donovan in Short Fiction by J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Con, little Con, Donovan, Con Donovan

**First appearance:** 0068-the-child-that-went-with-the-fairies

## Snapshot

Little Con Donovan, a boy whose encounter with the fairies turns a moonlit road home into something far older and colder than childhood.

## Who they are

Con Donovan moves through a world where the supernatural is not a metaphor but a neighbor — glimpsed at bridges, heard in the snorting of horses, felt in the freezing of the blood. His youth makes him vulnerable, but it also makes him a reliable witness, since he has not yet learned what he is supposed to disbelieve. His story gives the collection one of its purest folk-horror notes, where terror arrives without explanation and leaves without apology.

## Relationships

### [Hardress Fitzgerald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/hardress_fitzgerald)

_friendship_

Con Donovan and Hardress Fitzgerald are close companions, often involved in shared adventures or schemes.

### [Mr. Purcell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/mr_purcell)

_social_

Con Donovan and Mr. Purcell are acquaintances, likely meeting through local social circles.

### [Mr. Purcell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/mr_purcell)

_social_

Con Donovan and Mr. Purcell are acquaintances, likely meeting through local social circles.

### [Hardress Fitzgerald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/hardress_fitzgerald)

_friendship_

Con Donovan and Hardress Fitzgerald are close companions, often involved in shared adventures or schemes.

### [Mr. Purcell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/mr_purcell)

_social_

Con Donovan and Mr. Purcell are acquaintances, likely meeting through local social circles.

### [Hardress Fitzgerald](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/characters/hardress_fitzgerald)

_friendship_

Con Donovan and Hardress Fitzgerald are close companions, often involved in shared adventures or schemes.

## In the story

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

Con, one of the older children playing on the road when Billy is taken.

### [The White Cat of Drumgunniol](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/the-white-cat-of-drumgunniol)

The granduncle who sees the white cat and is struck by a spectral hand, leading to his death.

## Links

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