The Macdermots of Ballycloran

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. The narrative of The Macdermots of Ballycloran "chronicles the tragic demise of a small Catholic landowning family in the Protestant-dominated Ireland of the mid nineteenth century. It focuses on the struggle of Thady Macdermot to keep his sinking property afloat. Thady lives with his father Larry Macdermot in a dilapidated mansion in Co. Leitrim, which is mortgaged to their enemy, the vulgar builder Joe Flannelly. They cannot keep up the payments on the mortgage. Enmity between the Macdermot and Flannelly families is sharpened by Thady's having declined to marry Joe's daughter, Sally. Larry Macdermot's daughter, Feemy (christened 'Euphemia'), is seduced by the English police officer, Captain Myles Ussher, who is hated by the local Catholic majority for his brutal enforcement of the excise laws against poteen distilling. One night Thady comes home to find Ussher abducting Feemy and kills him in the ensuing struggle. Despite the mitigating circumstances, the Protestant-dominated courts find Thady guilty of murder, in the context of a panic about crime, and possibly anti-British terrorism. Thady is hanged, his father Larry goes mad, Feemy dies bearing Ussher's bastard and the Ballycloran house is finally vacated of Macdermots. (Wikipedia)