Background
Florence Ross was born in Ulster on 6 December 1870. Ross and her cousin, John Millington Synge, grew up together and were consequently very close.
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Florence Ross
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She was the youngest of three children of the Review William Steward Ross and Agnes Ross (née Traill). Mrs Traill other daughter, the widow Mrs Kathleen Synge, lived next door at 4 Orwell Park.
They shared an interest in natural history and kept a joint notebook for their observations and drawings of animals.
In his autobiography, Synge wrote about his infatuation with Ross, and that his childhood with her was the happiest time in his life. They did not remain as close in adulthood, but Ross and Synge"s sister were the sole attendants at his Trinity College, Dublin graduation.
In 1891 Ross lived with the Synges in Dún Laoghaire following the death of her mother, spending the summers with them at Castle Kevin, Annamoe, County Wicklow, passing the time drawing. Over the next 11 years she visited New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina, returning to Ireland in 1906.
Whilst in Ireland, Ross lived in Greystones, Clonlea, at various addresses in Dublin, and finally Blackrock.
She ran a sketching club near Glendalough. Ross died in the Royal City of Dublin Hospital on 10 July 1949.
