Date of Birth: 6th September 1913

Place of Birth: Rosemount, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford

Date Interviewed: 24th March 2009

Summary: Rita’s father was William Henry Grattan Flood who was one of the founding members of the Enniscorthy Historical Society. He wrote extensively on the origins of Irish music, wrote a history of the diocese of Ferns, and was broadcasting on radio in 1928. Rita talks proudly of her father’s achievements. She recalls the oil lamps her father worked by as these were pre-electrification days and remembers the bread and milk being delivered to their doorstep. As a young woman Rita went to Dublin and took up a position with the Land Commission in 1932. Rita recalls the 1930s in Ireland as being “very hard”. She met and married chemist Alan Franklin and moved to Tuam where they reared their children. Music always played a big part in Rita’s life and when she returned to Enniscorthy she joined the choir, the gramophone society, the French circle, and the historical society.