Edith Œnone Somerville
Edith Œnone Somerville was a notable Irish writer and illustrator, born on May 2, 1858, in Corfu, Greece, before her family returned to County Cork, Ireland. Coming from the wealthy Anglo-Irish Ascendancy class, Somerville trained in art and developed a successful career as a novelist in collaboration with her second cousin, Violet Florence Martin, who wrote under the pen name Martin Ross. Together, they produced fourteen books, with their most acclaimed work being "The Real Charlotte," published in 1894. Their novels often explore the lives and struggles of women within their social class in Ireland. Somerville was also a pioneer for women's rights; she was the first woman to become a master of foxhounds and served as president of the Munster Women's Franchise League. Following Martin's death in 1915, Somerville continued to write and even claimed to communicate with her through spiritualistic practices. Throughout her life, she received recognition for her contributions to literature and art, including an honorary degree from the University of Dublin and the Gregory Gold Medal from the Irish Academy of Letters. Somerville passed away on October 8, 1949, and her legacy endures as a significant figure in early Irish literature.
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Subject Terms
Edith Œnone Somerville
Writer
- Born: May 2, 1858
- Birthplace: Corfu, Greece
- Died: October 8, 1949
Biography
Edith Œnone Somerville was born in Corfu, off the Greek coast, on May 2, 1858, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Henry Somerville and Adelaide Eliza Coghill Somerville. A year later, the family returned to County Cork in Ireland. Somerville had a younger sister and six younger brothers. Her family was part of what is known as the Ascendency class: well-off Anglo- Irish landowners. She trained as an illustrator, studying art in London and Paris.
In 1886, Somerville met her second cousin, Violet Florence Martin. Martin used the name Martin Ross as a pen name and for other purposes. Somerville and Martin wrote fourteen books together, primarily novels set in Ireland with characters from their own social class. Somerville illustrated many of them. Although the letters and journals they left behind do not contain explicit references to lesbianism, the two women shared a home until Martin’s death in 1915, and all evidence suggests a deep commitment between the two. Much critical writing about them assumes Somerville and Martin to be lesbians.
The two women were active in forwarding women’s rights. An avid hunter, Somerville was the first woman to become a master of foxhounds. She was president of the Munster Women’s Franchise League. Martin died in 1915. In her later years, Somerville and composer Ethel Smyth were companions. Somerville died on October 8, 1949 in Castletownshend, and was buried alongside Martin.
Somerville and Martin’s first book, An Irish Cousin, was published in 1889. Their novel The Real Charlotte (1894) is considered by many to be their best and to be one of the great Irish novels of the nineteenth century. Like much of their work, it offers a sense of the life led by members of their social class and the difficulties faced by its women. Some Experiences of an Irish R. M. (1895) and its sequel Further Experiences of an Irish R. M. (1908) were popular for their humor. A Masterpiece Theater adaptation was made in 1982.
After Martin’s death, Somerville continued to write under both their names, claiming that the two remained in contact through automatic writing, a spiritualistic practice which was popular at the time. Writing in a trance-like state, Somerville believed she was recording messages from Martin. Somerville continued her art as well, and exhibited her work in Dublin, London, and New York between 1920 and 1938.
Somerville was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Dublin in 1922. In 1941, the Irish Academy of Letters awarded her the Gregory Gold Medal. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) marked Somerville’s ninetieth birthday with a talk about her works and Martin Martin’s. Maureen Duffy wrote two BBC radio plays about Somerville and Martin, which were performed in 1981 and 1986. Somerville and Martin’s depictions of Irish life were among early contributions to a distinctly Irish literature. Their writing led the way for W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, and others who would soon define Irish literature as a category of its own.