W. H. Grattan Flood

Irish music historian and composer (1857–1928)

Chevalier William Henry Grattan Flood (baptised 1 November 1857 – 6 August 1928) was a noted Irish author, composer, musicologist and historian. As a writer and ecclesiastical composer, his personal contributions to Irish music produced enduring works, although he is regarded today as controversial due to the inaccuracy of some of his work. As a historian, his output was prolific on topics of local and national historical or biographical interest. In 1917, Flood was awarded the papal cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice by Pope Benedict XV and in 1922 was elevated by Pope Leo XIII to the Order of St Gregory with the title Chevalier, thereafter he was often called "Chevalier Flood". He is not to be confused with the unrelated Irish statesmen Henry Flood or Henry Grattan.

Flood was born in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. His family had a great influence on his education. He was born to William and Catherine (FitzSimon) Flood, the Master and Matron of the Lismore Union Workhouse. He had one older sister (Maria), and five brothers (Francis (his twin brother), Patrick, Frederick, George and James (who died in infancy). Flood received his elementary education at his grandfather's (Andrew FitzSimon) boys academy in Lismore, and was given music lessons by his aunt, Elizabeth FitzSimon. He quickly became an accomplished pianist and, at the age of nine, was invited to give a recital for the Duke of Devonshire at Lismore Castle. He entered Mount Melleray in 1872 and graduated in 1876. During this time, he received private tuition in music from Sir Robert Prescott Stewart (1825–1894) and developed proficiency on other musical instruments. He was organist of St. Peter's Pro Cathedral in Belfast (1878–82), the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles, County Tipperary (1882–8), Monaghan Cathedral (1888–94) and St. Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy (from September 1895). A devout Catholic, Flood entered St. Patrick's in Carlow, County Carlow and spent several years studying for the priesthood. He taught music at the Jesuit Colleges of Tullabeg, County Offaly (1882–4), Clongowes Wood College (from 1884), St MacCartan's College, Monaghan (from 1888), and St. Kieran's College in Kilkenny. During his long residency at Enniscorthy (1895–1928) Flood authored the majority of his musical compositions and historical publications. Flood was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music (DMus) from the Royal University of Ireland in 1907. While he was organist and musical director at St. Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He transcribed the Wexford Carol from a local singer and had it published in The Oxford Book of Carols, putting Enniscorthy into most carol books around the world. In December 1898, he married Margaret Delaney and, over the next 12 years, the couple had six children, including Catherine (Kathleen), Mollie, Agnes, William, Patrick and Margaret (Rita). Following his death, his daughter, Kathleen, assumed the position of organist at St. Aidan's until her death in 1956. Flood is a highly controversial figure in Irish musicology. He has undoubtedly inspired a lot of more recent research, but "his appreciation of detail was enthusiastic rather than thorough, and the contents of his books were often distorted by his national and religious commitment". Although he is known to have had access to sources in the Public Record Office which burnt down in the Irish Civil War in 1922, "he renders himself untrustworthy by the fact that, where his sources can be checked, he sometimes misquotes or misinterprets them; and he is too ready to jump to conclusions which are presented as if they were facts." On the other hand, he wrote "at a time when it [i. e. Irish music] was either scorned or ignored, except by a few enthusiasts." Flood's most adventurous claims included an "Irish Ancestry of Garland, Dowland, Campion and Purcell". Therefore, his writings on musical history may need to be met with some caution.