The Macdermots of Ballycloran
Encyclopedia
The Macdermots of Ballycloran is a novel by Anthony Trollope
. It was Trollope's first published novel, which he began in September 1843 and completed by June 1845. However, it was not published until 1847. The novel was "an abysmal failure with the reading public."
The novel was written while Trollope was staying in the village of Drumsna
, County Leitrim
, Ireland
.
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
. It was Trollope's first published novel, which he began in September 1843 and completed by June 1845. However, it was not published until 1847. The novel was "an abysmal failure with the reading public."
The novel was written while Trollope was staying in the village of Drumsna
Drumsna
Drumsna is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is situated 6 km east of Carrick-on-Shannon on the River Shannon and is located off the N4 National primary route which links Dublin and Sligo. The harbour dates to 1817 and was a hive of commercial waterway activity until the more northern...
, County Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Plot summary
The narrative of The Macdermots of Ballycloran "chronicles the tragic demise of a landowning family. Larry Macdermot lives in a dilapidated mansion in Co. Leitrim, whose mortgage (enforced by his enemy, the vulgar builder Joe Flannelly) he cannot keep up. Enmity between the Macdermot and Flannelly families is sharpened by Larry's having declined to marry Joe's daughter, Sally. Macdermot's daughter, Feemy, is herself seduced by the locally hated English police officer, Captain Myles Ussher. Ussher, who enforces the excise laws against poteen distilling, is murdered by Feemy's brother, Thady. He is hanged, his father Larry goes mad, Feemy dies bearing Ussher's bastard and the Ballycloran house is finally vacated of Macdermots."Quote
Trollope, in his autobiography, said the following concerning The Macdermots of Ballycloran:"As to the plot itself, I do not know that I ever made one so good,- or, at any rate, one so susceptible of pathos. I am aware that I broke down in the telling, not having yet studied the art. Nevertheless, The Macdermots is a good novel, and worth reading by anyone who wishes to understand what Irish life was before the potato disease, the famine, and the Encumbered Estates Bill."