Violet Florence Martin
Encyclopedia
Violet Florence Martin was an Irish
author who co-wrote a series of novel
s with cousin Edith Somerville
under the pen name of Martin Ross in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
, County Galway
, the youngest of sixteen children of James Martin of Ross (1804–1872). The Martin family, a branch of the Martyn
family - one of the Tribes of Galway
- had settled at Ross by the early 17th century, having previously inhabited the town of Galway for some three hundred years. Her father, James, was a Protestant, his grandfather having converted from the Catholic faith in order to retain the family estates under the Penal Laws. Nevertheless, each child of the family was secretly 'baptised' by the family servants, a practise James Martin winked at.
She was a kinswoman of Richard Martin (M.P.) and her contemporary, Edward Martyn
, two other notable members of the Tribe. Her older brother, Robert Jasper Martin, was a noted songwriter
and a well-regarded member of the Tory party in London. She shared a great-grandmother with the writer Maria Edgeworth
, whose use of Irish vernacular speech she followed in her work.
Her father had managed to save both his estate and his tenants during the Famine - boasting that not one of his people died during the disaster - but at the cost of bankruptcy. Following his death in 1872, the family moved to Dublin and only returned to Ross in 1888 following revelations of financial fraud of the estate by their agent.
. Their works include The Real Charlotte (1889), Some Reminiscences of an Irish R.M. and In The Vine Country.
, becoming vice-president of the Munster Women's Franchise League. While on friendly terms with the leading members of the Irish literary revival such as W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, she objected to their romantic version of Irish peasantry. She was on good terms with Edward Martyn
, partner of Gregory and Yeats - and her kinsman - and shared his love of the Irish language and culture.
She was awarded a postumous DLitt. by Trinity College Dublin.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
author who co-wrote a series of novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s with cousin Edith Somerville
Edith Anna Somerville
Edith Anna Œnone Somerville was an Irish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" under the pseudonym "Somerville and Ross"...
under the pen name of Martin Ross in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Early life
Martin was born at Ross House in ConnemaraConnemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
, County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
, the youngest of sixteen children of James Martin of Ross (1804–1872). The Martin family, a branch of the Martyn
Martyn
Martyn, or Martin is the surname of one of The Tribes of Galway, Ireland.-Family history:The Martyn family were one of a group of fourteen families of mixed Irish, English, Welsh, French and Norman descent who became the premier merchant and political families in the town of Galway during the late...
family - one of the Tribes of Galway
Tribes of Galway
The Tribes of Galway were fourteen merchant families who dominated the political, commercial, and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late-19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Font, Ffrench, Joyce, Kirwan,...
- had settled at Ross by the early 17th century, having previously inhabited the town of Galway for some three hundred years. Her father, James, was a Protestant, his grandfather having converted from the Catholic faith in order to retain the family estates under the Penal Laws. Nevertheless, each child of the family was secretly 'baptised' by the family servants, a practise James Martin winked at.
She was a kinswoman of Richard Martin (M.P.) and her contemporary, Edward Martyn
Edward Martyn
Edward Martyn was an Irish political and cultural activist and playwright.-Early life:Martyn was the eldest son of John Martyn of Tullira and Annie Mary Josephine Smyth of Masonbrook, Loughrea, both in County Galway. He succeeded his father upon John's death in 1860...
, two other notable members of the Tribe. Her older brother, Robert Jasper Martin, was a noted songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and a well-regarded member of the Tory party in London. She shared a great-grandmother with the writer Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...
, whose use of Irish vernacular speech she followed in her work.
Her father had managed to save both his estate and his tenants during the Famine - boasting that not one of his people died during the disaster - but at the cost of bankruptcy. Following his death in 1872, the family moved to Dublin and only returned to Ross in 1888 following revelations of financial fraud of the estate by their agent.
Writings and Companionship with Edith Somerville
Violet Martin and Edith Somerville were second cousins, and originally met on January 17, 1886 at Castletownshend, after which they became lifelong companions and literary partners. They came to share a home in Drishane, County Cork. In 1889, Violet adopted the pseudonym Martin Ross, which comprised her surname and the name of her ancestral home; thus the authors were called Somerville and RossSomerville and Ross
Somerville and 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.....
. Their works include The Real Charlotte (1889), Some Reminiscences of an Irish R.M. and In The Vine Country.
Political and cultural outlook
Martin was a convinced Irish Unionist, in opposition to Somerville's open nationalism. Both she and her brother Robert were well-regarded members of the literary circle in Irish unionism. However, unlike her brother, Martin was a convinced suffragetteSuffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
, becoming vice-president of the Munster Women's Franchise League. While on friendly terms with the leading members of the Irish literary revival such as W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, she objected to their romantic version of Irish peasantry. She was on good terms with Edward Martyn
Edward Martyn
Edward Martyn was an Irish political and cultural activist and playwright.-Early life:Martyn was the eldest son of John Martyn of Tullira and Annie Mary Josephine Smyth of Masonbrook, Loughrea, both in County Galway. He succeeded his father upon John's death in 1860...
, partner of Gregory and Yeats - and her kinsman - and shared his love of the Irish language and culture.
Later years
Violet was seriously injured in a horse-riding accident in November 1898, from which she never fully recovered. This was a contributing factor to her death in Drishane, County Cork, in 1915. Edith Somerville continued to write under their joint literary names, claiming that they were still in contact. The two women left thousands of letters and 116 volumes of diaries, detailing their lives, much of them yet unpublished.She was awarded a postumous DLitt. by Trinity College Dublin.
Collaborative Novels
- 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)
See also
- Peter Martin (STP)Peter Martin (STP)Peter Martin , Master of Sacred Theology , died 1645.Martin was born in the town of Galway, Ireland, and by 1615 had already been a student at St. Patrick's College, Lisbon. He joined the Dominican Order and was in that year studying at Salamanca By 1622 he had returned to Ireland where he enjoyed...
- Francis MartinFrancis Martin-Biography:He was born in Galway during the occupation of the town by the Cromwellian army, his family been one of the Tribes of Galway. He was educated in one of the secret schools in the city. In 1673 he began his studies for the priesthood in Louvain with the Augustinian order. Ordained there in...
- Harriet Letitia MartinHarriet Letitia MartinHarriet Letitia Martin was an Irish novelist. She was born in London in 1801, and died in Dublin in 1891.Martin was the daughter of the novelist and stage-critic Harriet Evans Martin, and Richard Martin MP, a prominent member of the Martyn family of Galway. She spent the first years of her life in...
- Mary Letitia MartinMary Letitia Martin-Biography:Born into the chief landowning family of Connemara, the Martins of Ballynahinch Castle, a branch of the Martyn Tribe of Galway. Her parents were Thomas Barnwall Martin and Julia Kirwin; her grandfather was Richard Martin ....
- Richard Martin (M.P.)
- Rychard MartinRychard Martin-Biography:Martin was related to Wylliam Martin, under whom he served as bailiff for the term 1519-20. He served the first of three terms as Mayor for 1526-27. In 1535 he was again Mayor, been re-elected the following years....
- Thomas Barnwall MartinThomas Barnwall MartinThomas Barnwall Martin was an Irish landowner and politician.Martin was the eldest surviving son of Richard Martin, humanitarian and Member of Parliament for Galway County, by his first wife...
- Wylliam MartinWylliam MartinWylliam Martin, fl. 1504-1547, 34th Mayor of Galway.Martin was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, and had first served as a town bailiff for the term 1504-1505. He enjoyed two terms as Mayor, 1519–1520, and 1525-1526...
- Adrian James Martyn
- Andrew H. MartynAndrew H. MartynAndrew H. Martyn, Irish priest and member of the Repeal Association, 1785-1847.-Biography:Martyn was the son of Henry Martyn , and was born in Eyre Square in 1785. He claimed descent from the Martyn family, one of The Tribes of Galway. He began studying at Maynooth in October 1804, been ordained in...
- Edward MartynEdward MartynEdward Martyn was an Irish political and cultural activist and playwright.-Early life:Martyn was the eldest son of John Martyn of Tullira and Annie Mary Josephine Smyth of Masonbrook, Loughrea, both in County Galway. He succeeded his father upon John's death in 1860...
- Mary Gabriel MartynMary Gabriel MartynMaria Gabriel Martyn, Abbess of the Poor Clares of Galway, born 1604, died 1672.-Background:Born Helen Martyn, she was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, the merchant families who ruled Galway from the late medieval to the early modern era...
- Oliver Óge Martyn
- Richard Óge Martyn
- Thomas Óge MartynThomas Óge Martyn-Early life:Martyn was a merchant of Galway and a member of the Martyn family, one of the Tribes of Galway. He was the son of former Mayor of Galway, Wylliam Martin.-West Bridge and Mills:...
- William Óge MartynWilliam Oge Martyn-Early life:Also known as William Óge Martyn fitz Thomas, was a son of Thomas Óge Martyn and Evelina Lynch of Galway. Bailiff of Galway in 1566 to 1567, he was kidnapped by the Earl of Thomond in January 1570 but was free in time to participate at the battle of Shrule in April of the same year...
External links
- - The E. OE. Somerville & Martin Ross Exhibition detailed catalogue for a 2006 exhibition held at Queen's University Belfast