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Flood, William Henry Grattan
by Patrick M. Geoghegan
Flood, William Henry Grattan (1859–1928), musician and historian, was born 1 November 1859 at Lismore, Co. Waterford, eldest son of William Flood and his wife Catherine (née Fitzsimon). His mother gave him his first musical training, and he continued his musical studies during his education at Mount Melleray, Co. Waterford, and All Hallows College and the Catholic University, Dublin. A devout catholic, he initially intended to join the priesthood, but changed his mind and decided on a career in music and history, especially Irish music history. Flood was a competent organist and played with distinction for St Peter's pro-cathedral, Belfast (1876–82), Thurles cathedral, Co. Tipperary (1882–95), and, lastly, Enniscorthy cathedral, Co. Wexford (1895–1928). Because of his extensive musical knowledge he was regularly employed as a music teacher at schools such as St Macartan's College, Monaghan; St Kieran's College, Kilkenny; and Clongowes Wood College, Clane, Co. Kildare.
Concerned with the state of Irish church music, he composed three masses and many other church pieces that were aimed at raising the general standard. For these contributions to Irish music, he was awarded (1907) an honorary D.Mus. by the RUI. He was a prolific writer: his many works included a History of Irish music (1905), a study of the bagpipe, a life of John Field (qv), and a history of his adopted town, Enniscorthy. He wrote on folk song, biography, theatre, and various Irish musical instruments, and was also an enthusiastic contributor to the DNB, the third series of Grove's dictionary of music and musicians (1927–8), and the Catholic encyclopaedia.
Occasionally guilty of allowing his religious and nationalist beliefs to influence his historical writings, he sometimes manipulated sources, invented facts, and made spurious claims about a subject's Irishness. For example, he claimed that the composers John Dowland, Thomas Campion, and Henry Purcell were Irish, based on negligible evidence, and some of his work has since been disproved. He also revealed that the first name of the Irish piper O'Farrell was Patrick, a claim that was nothing more than a guess.
Flood devoted much of his time to tracing the sources of old songs and tunes. He noted the words and music of the 'Wexford carol', an ancient piece traditionally sung in Enniscorthy. He was vice-president of the Irish Folk Song Society and president of the music section of the Celtic Congress, Brussels (1910, 1913). His work as editor of The Armagh hymnal (1915) received many tributes, including praise from Pope Benedict XV, and he received the cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice and was made a knight of the Order of St Gregory (1922).
His final contribution to Irish music was the composition of a hymn, 'Christ our king'. He died 6 August 1928 at his home at Rosemount, Enniscorthy. In 1898 he married Margaret, daughter of Patrick Delany of Enniscorthy; they had two sons and four daughters.
W. H. Grattan Flood, A history of Irish music (2nd ed., 1906); IBL, vi (1915), 184; ix (1917), 32; xvii (1929), 12, 26; Society of Jesus, A page of history: the story of University College Dublin (1930), 313; Breifny Antiq. Soc. Jn., iii (1927–33), 343–4; DIH; WWW; Stanley Sadie (ed.), New Grove dictionary of music and musicians (1980); Cleeve
Revised: March 2014
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Life Summary
Birth Date | 01 November 1859 | |
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Birth Place | Co. Waterford | |
Career |
musicianhistorian |
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Death Date | 06 August 1928 | |
Death Place | Co. Wexford | |
Contributor/s |
Patrick M. Geoghegan |
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