| Liam Donovan | |
| Fictional Character | |
| 1632 series POD: May, 1631 | |
| Appearance(s): | Grantville Gazette II |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | Ireland |
| Religion: | Catholicism |
| Occupation: | Mercenary |
| Affiliations: | Albernian Mercenary Company |
Liam Donovan was an Irish mercenary. During the Thirty Years' War, he and long-time comrade-in-arms, Englishman Thomas North, owned and operated the Albernian Mercenary Company. Their primary employers were the New United States and to extent the United States of Europe.
Donovan received a classical education at the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity before being rejected for concealing his Catholicism and was forced to leave Ireland for his own safety.
Ten years before the Thirty Years' War, Donovan became a mercenary in the Netherlands during that country's war for independence from Spain. It was in Amsterdam that he met Thomas North. Despite their cultural rivalry/animosity, Donovan and North became friends after they realized that they shared one common interest: money.
Donovan and North went through different mercenary companies through the years and found themselves in the Clancy mercenary company, which was loosely tied with Count Tilly's when the Thirty Years' War broke out.
When news that the American town Grantville had appeared in Germany, Donovan and North were intrigued by the tales of wealth and technology. The two decided to offer their services to the Americans and abandoned their company. Once they reached an agreement with the NSU, the two enjoyed in the time-displaced town, especially the libraries. After the Croat raid in late 1632, Donovan and North were instilled in a sort of patriotism for the New United States. But were partly wished to preserve the libraries intact.
Donovan and North's services were used primarily to defend courier runs and supply trains between Grantville and other towns from highwaymen and bandits.