# Spaceman Old Donegal — Short Fiction character guide

> Spaceman Old Donegal in Short Fiction by Walter M. Miller Jr..

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** a Spaceman Old Donegal, Old Donegal, Donegal

**First appearance:** 0000-conditionally-human

## Snapshot

A dying spaceman who has guessed his own prognosis and performs ignorance for his family, because accepting death gracefully would feel like leaving them.

## Who they are

Old Donegal lies paralyzed in his own rented flat, listening to the Keith mansion's servants set up the terrace for late afternoon guests, while his wife Martha squeezes a hand he can barely feel and begs him to let her call the priest. He knows the operations failed, knows the cancer is climbing his spine toward his brain, and has decided to let them keep the secret they think they're keeping from him — because Martha could bear his death, but not his calm. So he jokes about the moon-run at sixty-three, and mutters requiescat over his own hand, and calls himself a maudlin ass for it.

## Relationships

### [Martha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/martha)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [the priest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_priest)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the priest share philosophical conversations over drinks, finding common ground in their search for meaning.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the man are old war buddies who share a deep, unspoken understanding of past trauma.

### [Martha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/martha)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [Martha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/martha)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [the priest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_priest)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the priest share philosophical conversations over drinks, finding common ground in their search for meaning.

### [the priest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_priest)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the priest share philosophical conversations over drinks, finding common ground in their search for meaning.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the man are old war buddies who share a deep, unspoken understanding of past trauma.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_friendship_

Spaceman Old Donegal and the man are old war buddies who share a deep, unspoken understanding of past trauma.

## In the story

### [Death of a Spaceman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/chapters/death-of-a-spaceman)

Dying of cancer, reflecting on his life in space and his impending death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/spaceman_old_donegal
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters