Somerville and Ross (

Edith Somerville Edith Anna Œnone Somerville (2 May 1858 – 8 October 1949) was an Irish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" ( Violet Martin) under the pseudonym " Somerville ...

and

Violet Florence Martin Violet Florence Martin (11 June 1862 – 21 December 1915) was an Irish author who co-wrote a series of novels with cousin Edith Somerville under the pen name of Martin Ross ( Somerville and Ross) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth ce ...

, writing under the name Martin Ross) were an Anglo-Irish writing team, perhaps most famous for their series of books that were made into the TV series ''

The Irish R.M. ''The Irish R.M.'' is a trilogy of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross and a 1983 television comedy-drama series based on them. They are set in the turn-of-the-twentieth-century west of Ireland. Books The television series ...

''. The television series is based on stories drawn from ''Some Experiences of an Irish RM'', ''Further Experiences of an Irish RM'' and ''In Mr Knox's Country''. The various stories concern the life of an Anglo-Irish former

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer recently appointed as a resident magistrate (R.M.) in Ireland, which at that stage was still wholly a part of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

, some years before its partition into the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

(now the Republic of Ireland) and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Somerville and Ross also wrote other work together, including the novel ''

The Real Charlotte ''The Real Charlotte'' is a novel (written between 1888 and 1890, and published in 1894) by the Anglo-Irish writing partnership Somerville and Ross, composed of Edith Somerville (1858–1949) and Violet Florence Martin (1862–1915). The first ...

'' (1894), considered their masterpiece. Even after the death of "Ross" in 1915, Somerville continued to write and publish stories under their joint names, claiming that the two were still in contact. ''The Big House of Inver'', a novel of 1925, falls into that category. The precise nature of their relationship – whether they were romantic and sexual partners as well as literary collaborators and friends – has been the object of speculation by later writers.

Collaborative works

*''An Irish Cousin'' (1889) *''Naboth's Vineyard'' (1891) *''In the Vine Country'' (1893) *''Through Connemara in a Governess Cart'' (1893) *''

'' (1894) *''Beggars on Horseback'' (1895) *''The Silver Fox'' (1897) *''Some Experiences of an Irish R. M.'' (1899) *''A Patrick's Day Hunt'' (1902) *''All on the Irish Shore'' (1903) *''Further Experiences of an Irish R.M.'' (1908) *''Dan Russell the Fox'' (1911) *''In Mr Knox's Country'' (1915)

References

External links

*
Somerville & Ross Manuscript Collection
diaries, correspondence, working papers, and draft manuscripts relating to the authors’ literary activities, personal interests and affairs

short biographies
Irelandseye.com Somerville and Ross
short biographies
The E. Œ. Somerville & Martin Ross Exhibition
detailed catalogue for a 2006 exhibition held at Queen's University Belfast
Irish R.M. on Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville And Ross Writing duos