The Macdermots of Ballycloran was the first novel written by Anthony Trollope in 1847. This book has never received the attention it deserves both because of the sheer volume of Trollope's work and the popularity of the Barsetshire and Palliser novels.
This powerful story set in the violent Ireland of the 1830s portrays the destruction of the Macdermot family, victims of history, their own providence, and political hysteria. This book offers a rare glimpse of Irish life before the Potato Famine and reveals some of the tensions in that society which still exert their influence today.