Title page of the first edition
The Macdermots of Ballycloran was the first novel of Anthony Trollope. He began writing it in September 1843, finished it in June 1845, and published it in 1847.
The Macdermot family — father Larry, son Thady and daughter Feemy — live in the dilapidated mansion Ballycloran. In spite of Thady's best efforts, they can't keep up payments on their mortgage. The mansion is mortgaged to Joe Flannelly, the builder, who still hasn't been fully paid for his work almost fifty years later. Meanwhile, Feemy has fallen in love with Captain Ussher, with dire consequences when Thady and Ussher get into a fight...
Like most of Trollope's early works, the novel is obscure even among his fans. It was a failure when it was first published and has usually been out of print — when it was reprinted in 1989, that was the book's first edition since 1906. It's available on Gutenberg
.
Contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: Thady doesn't mean to kill Ussher. Unfortunately the jury don't accept it was an accident.
- Black Comedy: A brief moment when Mr. Brown has been challenged to a duel, and his sons are clearly hoping he'll be killed (because the older son wants his money). The narrator piles on the snark about how "anxious" and "filial" they are....during the whole evening Fred and George would talk of nothing but trepanned skulls, false knee-caps—cork legs—bullets that had come out of men's backs ten years after they had entered men's bellies—surgeon's knives—pincers and tourniquets—wills—attorneys—leaden coffins, and the family vault.
- Dead Guy Junior: Thady and Feemy are named after their grandparents.
- Death by Childbirth: Feemy. Right before she was called into court to give evidence that would clear Thady, too.
- Direct Line to the Author / Framing Device: Trollope spends the first chapter describing how he found the ruins of Ballycloran, wondered what had happened to the owners, and got the story of the Macdermots from a guard on the coach.
- Downer Ending: Thady kills Ussher in a fight. He's found guilty of murder and hanged. Feemy dies in childbirth. Larry goes mad.
- Foreshadowing: Thady warns that he'll give Ussher the treatment a blackguard deserves if he finds that Ussher doesn't intend to marry Feemy. He does, and he hangs for it.
- Funetik Aksent: Almost all the characters talk like this, leading to words like "dhrunk", "jist", "purviding" and "plazes" (for "pleases"). Father John and Ussher are among the few characters whose accent isn't rendered this way.
- Gender-Blender Name: Hyacinth Keegan is a man. This is an example of "the name was formerly unisex but now sounds feminine" variety; readers today will assume Hyacinth is a woman's name (mainly because the most famous bearer is Hyacinth Bucket), but it derives from a male character in Greek mythology and for centuries it was more common as a male name than a female one.
- Have a Gay Old Time: One character refers to Ussher as "a gay man" — meaning that he spends a lot of time at parties.
- Impoverished Patrician: The Macdermots are descended from the royal family who once ruled most of Connaught. They only hold onto a tiny fraction of their original lands, split between the two sons of a past head of the family. Larry and his children, who are descended from the younger son, have Ballycloran (built by Larry's father at such expense that his family are still in debt) and nothing else.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Larry thinks Flannelly is tormenting him for no good reason. Flannelly is a jerk, yes, but he also built Larry's house and has had to wait literal decades for payment.
- Missing Mum: Thady's and Feemy's mother died before the story started.
- My Secret Pregnancy: Feemy is pregnant when Ussher is killed. She only finds out months later, and does her best to conceal it from everyone.
- Of Corset Hurts: Feemy tries to hide her pregnancy by tightening her stays. She faints because of it.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Thady's and Feemy's real names are Thaddeus and Euphemia.
- Present-Day Past: The novel is set at some point between 1835 and mid-1837. (The king is referenced during the trial; William IV died on 20 June 1837 and was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria.) However, Father John owns Nicholas Nickleby (started publication in 1838) and Charles O'Malley, the Irish Dragoon (started publication in 1840).
- Shot in the Ass: Webb and Brown Sr. have a duel. Brown Sr. gets shot "directly under the tails of his coat", as Trollope puts it.
- Shout-Out: Miss Julia is compared to Di Vernon, heroine of Rob Roy.
- Toilet Seat Divorce: A variant involving an engagement rather than a marriage. Denis McGovery agrees to marry Betsey Cane, and Betsey's mother promises to give him a pregnant cow as a wedding present. Denis learns the cow isn't pregnant after all, so he breaks up with Betsey and gets engaged to Mary Brady instead.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The first edition includes one. It was cut from the 1860 edition, and all subsequent editions follow suit (though the 1989 edition includes it in the appendix). Larry goes insane and spends the rest of his life being looked after by Mary and Denis. Flannelly dies and Keegan leaves the area. Pat Brady is murdered. Most of his former friends are arrested and possibly transported.
