Crossword Genius

Friar with Roman mother gets to dry land (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

terra firma

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'to dry land' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'friar with roman mother' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'friar' is 'rrafi' which is within the answer.
'mother' could be 'ma' (ma can mean mother) and 'ma' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ter' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'gets' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for terra firma that I've seen before include "Solid ground" , "Solid earth - dry land" , "Hard ground" , "Solid earth (Latin)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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