W. H. Grattan Flood
Irish historian and composer
Chevalier William Henry Grattan Flood (baptised 1 November 1857 – 6 August 1928) was an 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".
Biography
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.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7945638. VIAF identifies the subject as 5293326. The Library of Congress control number is nr95024032. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1857, 1928, 1917 and 1922.
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This entry incorporates text from “W. H. Grattan Flood” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.