# O'Flaherty — Short Plays character guide

> O'Flaherty in Short Plays by George Bernard Shaw.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** O'Flaherty Furious, Mrs. O'Flaherty, O'Flaherty V.C., Private O'Flaherty V.C.

**First appearance:** 0050-o-flaherty-v-c

## Snapshot

An Irish soldier returning home with a Victoria Cross, dreading the moment his fiercely Fenian mother discovers he won it fighting for England.

## Who they are

O'Flaherty stands trapped between two irreconcilable loyalties: the British army that decorated him and the rebel mother who raised him to pray for England's ruin. His easy charm and evasions cannot disguise the panic beneath, for he loves the old woman too much to shatter her illusions. The comedy of his homecoming sharpens into something more painful as every greeting threatens to expose the lie he never quite told.

## Relationships

### [Sir Pearce Madigan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/sir_pearce_madigan)

_rivalry_

O'Flaherty and Sir Pearce Madigan are enemies, representing Irish nationalist versus British colonial authority.

### [Henry Apjohn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/henry_apjohn)

_friendship_

Henry Apjohn and O'Flaherty are comrades-in-arms, sharing a bond of mutual respect and military duty.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters/o_flaherty
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- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_plays_se/characters