[1] Her cousin's death stunned Edith, who continued to write as "Somerville and Ross", claiming that they kept in contact through spiritualist séances.

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.

[12] After that, she tended towards Nationalism, and as an adept musician at parties, she specialised in Irish tunes and Nationalist songs.

[14] In 1936, her brother Henry Boyle Townsend Somerville, a retired Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, was killed by the IRA at the family home in Castletownshend.

[15] She died at Castletownshend in October 1949, aged 91, and is buried alongside Violet Florence Martin at Saint Barrahane's Church, Castletownsend with a joint memorial to them both.