Editing Anthony Trollope (section)

===Early works===
Though Trollope had decided to become a novelist, he had accomplished very little writing during his first three years in Ireland. At the time of his marriage, he had only written the first of three volumes of his first novel, ''[[The Macdermots of Ballycloran]]''. Within a year of his marriage, he finished that work.<ref>Tingay, Lance O. (1951). "The Reception of Trollope's First Novel", ''Nineteenth-Century Fiction'', Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 195–200.</ref>

Trollope began writing on the numerous long train trips around Ireland he had to take to carry out his postal duties.<ref>"Some authors appear to be able to write at any time and in any place. Anthony Trollope did much writing in a railway train." –  Andrews, William (1898). [https://archive.org/stream/literarybyways00andr#page/n5/mode/2up ''Literary Byways''], Williams Andrews & Co., pp. 22–23.</ref> Setting firm goals about how much he would write each day, he eventually became one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote his earliest novels while working as a Post Office inspector, occasionally dipping into the "[[dead letter mail|lost-letter]]" box for ideas.<ref>Super, R. H. (1981). ''Trollope in the Post Office''. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. pp. 16–45.</ref>

[[File:Belfast (111), October 2009.JPG|thumb|Plaque on Custom House in [[Belfast]], where Trollope maintained his office as Postal Surveyor for the northern half of Ireland<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055911/http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/anthonytrollope.htm "Anthony Trollope".] [http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/index.htm Ulster History Circle.] Archived from [http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/anthonytrollope.htm the original] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055911/http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/anthonytrollope.htm |date=16 July 2011 }} on 16 July 2011.</ref>]]

Significantly, many of his earliest novels have Ireland as their setting—natural enough given that he wrote them or thought them up while he was living and working in Ireland, but unlikely to enjoy warm critical reception, given the contemporary English attitude towards Ireland.<ref name="edwards38">Edwards, Owen Dudley. "Anthony Trollope, the Irish Writer. ''Nineteenth-Century Fiction'', Vol. 38, No. 1 (June 1983), p. 1</ref> Critics have pointed out that Trollope's view of Ireland separates him from many of the other Victorian novelists. Other critics claimed that Ireland did not influence Trollope as much as his experience in England, and that the society in Ireland harmed him as a writer, especially since Ireland was experiencing the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] during his time there.<ref>''Trollope: A Commentary'' London: Constable 1927 p. 136</ref> However, these critics (who have been accused of bigoted opinions against Ireland) failed or refused to acknowledge both Trollope's true attachment to the country and the country's capacity as a rich literary field.<ref name="edwards38"/><ref>"Trollope and the Matter of Ireland," ''Anthony Trollope'', ed. Tony Bareham, London: Vision Press 1980, pp. 24–25</ref>

Trollope published four novels about Ireland. Two were written during the Great Famine, while the third deals with the famine as a theme (''[[The Macdermots of Ballycloran]]'', ''[[The Kellys and the O'Kellys]]'', and ''[[Castle Richmond]]'', respectively).<ref>Terry, R.C. ''Anthony Trollope: The Artist in Hiding'' London: Macmillan 1977 pp. 175–200</ref> ''The Macdermots of Ballycloran'' was written while he was staying in the village of [[Drumsna]], [[County Leitrim]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Welcome to Drumsna | work=GoIreland | url=http://www.goireland.com/leitrim/drumsna.htm | access-date=25 June 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080512065223/http://www.goireland.com/leitrim/drumsna.htm| archive-date= 12 May 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> ''[[The Kellys and the O'Kellys]]'' (1848) is a humorous comparison of the romantic pursuits of the landed gentry (Francis O'Kelly, Lord Ballindine) and his Catholic tenant (Martin Kelly). Two short stories deal with Ireland ("The O'Conors of Castle Conor, County Mayo"<ref>Published in ''Harper's'', May 1860.</ref> and "Father Giles of Ballymoy"<ref>Published in ''Argosy'', May 1866.</ref>).<ref>Trollope, ''The Spotted Dog, and Other Stories'', ed. Herbert Van Thal. London: Pan Books 1950</ref> Some critics argue that these works seek to unify an Irish and British identity, instead of viewing the two as distinct.<ref name=autogenerated1>Edwards p.3</ref> Even as an Englishman in Ireland, Trollope was still able to attain what he saw as essential to being an "Irish writer": possessed, obsessed, and "mauled" by Ireland.<ref name=autogenerated1 /><ref>"Irishness" in ''Writers and Politics''. London: Chatto and Windus 1965, pp. 97–100</ref>

The reception of the Irish works left much to be desired. [[Henry Colburn]] wrote to Trollope, "It is evident that readers do not like novels on Irish subjects as well as on others."<ref name=auto4 /> In particular, magazines such as ''[[The New Monthly Magazine]]'', which included reviews that attacked the Irish for their actions during the famine, were representative of the dismissal by English readers of any work written about the Irish.<ref>''New Monthly Magazine'', August 1848.</ref><ref>''Trollope: The Critical Heritage'' ed. Donald Smalley London: Routledge 1969, p. 555</ref>