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IRA unit ran off, finally forsaking realm of romance (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ruritania

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

'realm of romance' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.

'ira unit ran off finally forsaking' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'unit' could be 't' (T is an example) and 't' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'ira' is 'ria' which is located in the remaining letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ruritania that I've seen before include "Fictitious small kingdom" , "Imaginary European kingdom" , "Land of Hope ..." , "Hope country" , "romantic spot" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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