Somerville and Ross ( Edith 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 cen ...

, writing under the name Martin Ross) were an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

writing team, perhaps most famous for their series of books that were made into the TV series '' The Irish R.M.''. 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

former

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officer recently appointed as a

resident magistrate A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel—notably well versed in the law—brought int ...

(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 the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...

, some years before its partition into the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

(now the Republic of Ireland) and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Somerville and Ross also wrote other work together, including the novel '' The Real Charlotte'' (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) *'' The Real Charlotte'' (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
* Works by Sommerville and Ross in th
Suzannet Collection
at the Library of Trinity College Dublin {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville And Ross Writing duos 1890s in Irish comedy 1900s in Irish comedy LGBTQ in the United Kingdom LGBTQ in Ireland 19th-century Irish LGBTQ people 20th-century Irish LGBTQ people