Francis Xavier Flood (1 December 1901 – 14 March 1921), known as Frank Flood, was a 1st Lieutenant in the Dublin Active Service Brigade during the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
. He was executed by the British authorities in
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland.
The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins.
History
...
and was one of the men commonly referred to as
The Forgotten Ten
The Forgotten Ten ( ga, An Deichniúr Dearmadta) were ten members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, by British forces following courts martial from 1920 to 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.
Bas ...
.
Background
Flood was born at 6 Emmet Street, Dublin on 1 December 1901. He was the son of policeman John Flood and Sarah Murphy. The 1911 census lists the family living at 15 Emmet Street. He was one of eight brothers and he had one sister , most of whom were heavily involved in the Independence movement.
He attended secondary school in
O'Connell School
The O’Connell School is a secondary and primary school for boys located on North Richmond Street in Dublin, Ireland. The school, named in honour of the leader of Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O’Connell, has the distinction of being the oldes ...
s, Dublin and won a scholarship to study engineering at
University College Dublin
University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...
where he was an active member of UCD's famous debating forum, the
Literary and Historical Society.
He passed his first and second year engineering exams with distinction.
At the time of his arrest he was living with his family at 30 Summerhill Parade, Dublin.
Trial and execution
He was captured, together with
Thomas Bryan,
Patrick Doyle
Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953) is a Scottish film composer with Irish heritage. A longtime collaborator of actor-director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work composing for films such as ''Henry V'', ''Sense and Sensibility'', ''Hamle ...
,
Bernard Ryan and Dermot O'Sullivan while attacking a lorry-load of
Dublin Metropolitan Police
The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána.
History
19th century
The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...
at
Drumcondra on 21 January 1921.
All of the men were found in possession of arms and a grenade was discovered in Flood's pocket.
On 24 February 1921 Flood was charged by
Court-martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
, with high treason/levying war against the King, and was one of six men executed by hanging on 14 March 1921 in
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland.
The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins.
History
...
, Dublin.
At nineteen years of age, he was the youngest of the six.
Legacy and re-interment
Flood was a close personal friend of
Kevin Barry
Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Bri ...
, and asked that he be buried as close as possible to him.
He had taken part in the September 1920 ambush during which Barry had been arrested and had been involved in the planning of several aborted attempts to rescue him.
Flood would remain buried at
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland.
The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins.
History
...
, together with nine other executed members of the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
known as
The Forgotten Ten
The Forgotten Ten ( ga, An Deichniúr Dearmadta) were ten members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, by British forces following courts martial from 1920 to 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.
Bas ...
, until he was given a
state funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...
and reburied at
Glasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Ghlas Naíon) is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. It holds the graves and memorials of several notable figures, and has a museum.
Location
The cemetery is located in Glasne ...
on 14 October 2001 after an intense campaign led by the
National Graves Association
The National Graves Association (NGA; ga, Cumann Uaigheann na Laochra Gael, "Grave Committee of Heroes of the Gaels") is an Irish organisation which seeks to maintain the graves of Irish republicans who died in the pursuit of a united Ireland. I ...
.
Students of University College Dublin established the Frank Flood Shield, an annual debating competition, in his memory.
Flood and the other five men executed on 14 March 1921 are commemorated in
Thomas MacGreevy
Thomas MacGreevy (born Thomas McGreevy; 26 October 1893 – 16 March 1967) was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish literary modernism. A poet, he was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963 and served on the f ...
's poem "The Six who were Hanged".
The bridge over the
River Tolka
The River Tolka (; , "the flood"), also once spelled ''Tolga'', is one of Dublin's three main rivers, flowing from County Meath to Fingal within the old County Dublin, and through the north of Dublin city, Ireland (the other main rivers are t ...
in
Drumcondra at Millmount Avenue/Botanic Avenue was named Droichead Frank Flood on 14 March 2018.
References and sources
;Notes
;Sources
*
External links
Transcripts of Flood's last letters to his familyfrom CDVEC Educational Service to Prisons.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flood, Frank
1921 deaths
People educated at O'Connell School
Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery
Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members
20th-century executions by the United Kingdom
Executed Irish people
People executed by the British military by hanging
People executed for treason against the United Kingdom
Irish Republicans killed during the Irish War of Independence
1901 births