The Irish R.M.

The Irish R.M. refers to a series of books by the Anglo-Irish novelists Somerville and Ross, and the television comedy-drama series based on them. They are set in turn-of-the-century west of Ireland.

The TV series was made in the 1980s, and was filmed in Ireland at locations in Kildare and Wicklow with additional locations in the West of Ireland in a co-production between Ulster Television and Radio Telefís Éireann. It was broadcast on Channel 4 and S4C in the UK, and RTÉ One in the Republic of Ireland. Like the books, the TV series is a number of short stories around a few central characters. The house used as Aussolas Castle, the residence of Beryl Reid's incarnation of the erstwhile Mrs. Knox (located at Newhall, Naas in Kildare), was badly damaged by fire following completion of filming for the series, it has since been returned to its former glory. Johnstown Kennedy - the house used as Major Yeates' residence, Shreelane House - was situated near Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. It was demolished soon after the 3rd series was completed and a golf course now stands on the site.

The various stories concern the life of an Irish ex-British Army officer Resident Magistrate (R.M.) recently appointed to his position in Ireland, which at that stage was still wholly a part of the United Kingdom, and before the creation of the present day Republic of Ireland.

In the television adaptation, Major Yeates is portrayed as an Englishman, and much of the humour of the first series derives from his difficulty in adjusting to the more relaxed class boundaries and slower pace of life of rural Ireland. The timeline of the television series begins in 1897, when the Major departs for Ireland, and ends shortly after the death of Edward VII.

The RM has to deal with all sorts of everyday events with colourful characters, often being outfoxed by the machinations of his Anglo-Irish friend, Flurry Knox (Bryan Murray). The late Anna Manahan played the redoubtable Mrs Cadogan the housekeeper.

The humour in the series is greatly enhanced if the viewer has a broad understanding of the history of Ireland’s relationship with England, and how Ireland was governed, as well as the Irish country way of life. The show is, however, not political, although caricatures of Irish and British people are used for humorous purposes.

Political references are, however, not completely absent; where they occur, they are invariably introduced in a subtle manner by guest characters. Notable among these are several visiting officials from Dublin Castle who regard the Major's dispensation of justice as unduly lenient, and a Catholic canon with strong Irish nationalist sympathies who exploits the naiveté of the Major for his own purposes. In every case, the comfortable, if somewhat adversarial, co-existence of the Major and the local population is at risk. One element of the series' humour involves the efforts of Flurry and the Major to hasten the departure of these troublesome visitors.

One of the show's key strengths lies in its ability to convey the extent to which the lives of the Anglo-Irish gentry and the simple, if rather stilted local characters, often became inadvertently intertwined to produce the memorable comic effects that are so unique to the Irish psyche.

The R.M., Major Yeates, is played by Peter Bowles, who also starred in To the Manor Born — the light-hearted humorous style of the Irish RM has often been compared with To the Manor Born, although in a period Irish context instead of a present-day (as then was) English context.

In one scene, the major’s English wife, Philippa (Doran Godwin) is dancing with Flurry's groom, Slipper (Niall Toibin), at a servants’ ball. Slipper ventures to say that ‘The English and the Irish understand each other like the fox and the hound,’ to which the lady replies in good humour, ‘But which is which?’ The answer is, ‘Ah well, if we knew that, we’d know everything!’

Original books

The television series is based on stories drawn from:

• Some Experiences of an Irish RM (Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1899)
• Further Experiences of an Irish RM (Longmans Green & Co., London, 1908)
• In Mr Knox's Country (Longmans Green & Co., London, 1915)

All three books are out of copyright and can be found on the Internet Archive.

DVD release

Series One, Two and Three of The Irish RM are available on DVD in the UK, distributed by Acorn Media UK.

External links

• The Irish R.M. at the Internet Movie Database