Edith Somerville: West Cork woman who was ahead of her time 

Best known for her novels as one half of Somerville and Ross, she was also an accomplished artist and a progressive farmer who introduced the first herd of Friesian cattle to Ireland 

An exhibition of Edith Somerville's art is currently on at the Crawford in Cork. Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images 

Even now, 72 years after her passing, there is much that remains mysterious about Edith Somerville, not least her relationship with her second cousin and literary partner, Violet Martin. As Somerville and Ross, the pair published 13 travel books and novels, including such classics as The Real Charlotte and Some Experiences of an Irish RM (adapted for a TV series in the 1980s).

Somerville and Martin were suffragists, and served respectively as president and vice-president of the radical Munster Women’s Franchise League, campaigning ardently for women’s right to vote. Neither married or had children, which gave rise to speculation about their sexuality.