Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February 1830 – 13 April 1909) was an Irish lawyer and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

scholar.

Background

He was a son of William Stokes (1804–1878), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-

Malthusian Malthusianism is a theory that population growth is potentially exponential, according to the Malthusian growth model, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of trig ...

(1763–1845), each of whom was Regius Professor of Physic at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. His sister

Margaret Stokes Margaret McNair Stokes (March 1832 – 20 September 1900) was an Irish Illustrator, antiquarian and writer. Life Born in Dublin, she was the daughter of Dr William Stokes and his wife Mary (née Black). One brother, Whitley Stokes, was a lea ...

was a writer and archaeologist. He was born at 5

Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian architecture, Georgian garden square on the Southside Dublin, southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1762 to a plan by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for the estate of Richard Fitz ...

, Dublin and educated at St Columba's College where he was taught Irish by Denis Coffey, author of a ''Primer of the Irish Language''. Through his father he came to know the Irish antiquaries

Samuel Ferguson Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...

Eugene O'Curry Eugene O'Curry (, 20 November 179430 July 1862) was an Irish philologist and antiquary. Life He was born at Doonaha, near Carrigaholt, County Clare, the son of Eoghan Ó Comhraí, a farmer, and his wife Cáit. Eoghan had spent some time as a ...

, John O'Donovan and George Petrie. He entered

in 1846 and graduated with a BA in 1851. His friend and contemporary Rudolf Thomas Siegfried (1830–1863) became assistant librarian in Trinity College in 1855, and the college's first professor of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

in 1858. It is likely that Stokes learnt both Sanskrit and

comparative philology Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness implies a common origin or proto-language and comparative linguistics aim ...

from Siegfried, thus acquiring a skill-set rare among Celtic scholars in Ireland at the time.

Career

Stokes qualified for the bar at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. His instructors in the law were

Arthur Cayley Arthur Cayley (; 16 August 1821 – 26 January 1895) was a British mathematician who worked mostly on algebra. He helped found the modern British school of pure mathematics, and was a professor at Trinity College, Cambridge for 35 years. He ...

, Hugh McCalmont Hughes, and Thomas Chitty. Stokes became an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

on 17 November 1855, practicing in London before going to India in 1862, where he filled several official positions. In 1865 he married Mary Bazely by whom he had four sons and two daughters. One of his daughters, Maïve, compiled a book of ''Indian Fairy Tales'' in 1879 (she was 12 years old) based on stories told to her by her Indian ''ayahs'' and a man-servant. It also included some notes by Mrs. Mary Stokes. Mary died while the family was still living in India. In 1877, Stokes was appointed legal member of the viceroy's council, and he drafted the codes of civil and criminal procedure and did much other valuable work of the same nature. In 1879 he became president of the commission on Indian law. Nine books by Stokes on Celtic studies were published in India. He returned to settle permanently in London in 1881 and married Elizabeth Temple in 1884. In 1887 he was made a CSI, and two years later a CIE He was an original fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, an honorary fellow of

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

and foreign associate of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

Celtic scholarship

Whitley Stokes is perhaps most famous as a Celtic scholar, and in this field he worked both in India and in England. He studied Irish,

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

and Cornish texts. His chief interest in Irish was as a source of material for comparative

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

. Despite his learning in

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...

and

Middle Irish Middle Irish, also called Middle Gaelic (, , ), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of Late Old English and Early Middle English. The modern Goideli ...

, he never acquired Irish pronunciation and never mastered

Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

. In the hundred years since his death he has continued to be a central figure in Celtic scholarship. Many of his editions have not been superseded in that time and his total output in Celtic studies comes to over 15,000 pages. He was a correspondent and close friend of

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brothe ...

from 1881 onwards. With Meyer he established the journal ''Archiv für celtische Lexicographie'' and was the co-editor, with

Ernst Windisch Ernst Wilhelm Oskar Windisch (4 September 1844, Dresden30 October 1918, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist and comparative linguist who specialised in Sanskrit, Celtic and Indo-European studies. In his student days at the University o ...

, of the ''Irische Texte'' series. In 1876 Stokes's translation of

Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii The ''Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii'' (''The Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick'') is a bilingual hagiography of Saint Patrick, written partly in Irish and partly in Latin. The text is difficult to date. Kathleen Mulchrone had assigned a late ...

, along with a written introduction, was published. In 1862 he was awarded the Cunningham Gold Medal by the Royal Irish Academy.

Death and reputation

Stokes died at his London home, 15 Grenville Place, Kensington, in 1909 and is buried in Paddington Old Cemetery, Willesden Lane, where his grave is marked by a

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

. Another Celtic cross was erected as a memorial to him at St Fintan's, Sutton, Dublin. The

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

paper '' An Claidheamh Soluis'' called Stokes "the greatest of the Celtologists" and expressed pride that an Irishman should have excelled in a field which was at that time dominated by continental scholars. In 1929 the Canadian scholar James F. Kenney described Stokes as "the greatest scholar in philology that Ireland has produced, and the only one that may be ranked with the most famous of continental savants". A conference entitled "Ireland, India, London: The Tripartite Life of Whitley Stokes" took place at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 18 to 19 September 2009. The event was organised to mark the centenary of Stokes's death. A volume of essays based on the papers delivered at this conference, ''The Tripartite Life of Whitley Stokes (1830–1909)'', was published by

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably ...

in autumn 2011. In 2010

Dáibhí Ó Cróinín Dáibhí Iarla Ó Cróinín (born 29 August 1954) is an Irish historian and authority on Hiberno-Latin texts, noted for his significant mid-1980s discovery in a manuscript in Padua of the "lost" Irish 84-year Easter table. Ó Cróinín was Pro ...

published ''Whitley Stokes (1830–1909): The Lost Celtic Notebooks Rediscovered'', a volume based on the scholarship in Stokes's 150 notebooks which had been resting unnoticed at the University Library,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

since 1919.

Works

*'' The Passion: Middle Cornish Poem'' (1860–1861) *''Three Irish Glossaries'' (1862)
Gwreans an Bys: the Creation of the World
Translation of William Jordan's 1611 Cornish play (1864) *''Beunans Meriasek The Life of Saint Meriasek Bishop and Confessor'' (1872) - Editor rubner & Co London*''Three Middle-Irish Homilies'' (1877) *''Old Irish Glosses at Merzburg and Carlsruhe'' (1887) *''Irische Texte'' published at Leipzig (1880–1900), co-editor with

*''The Anglo-Indian Codes'' (1887). *''Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore'' (1890) translator *''Urkeltischer Sprachschatz'' (1894) with Adalbert Bezzenberger *''Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus'' (1901–03) with John Strachan

Collections

In 1910 Stokes' daughters presented

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

with their father's library. The collection spans c.2000 books, many of which contain autograph letters between Stokes and

, and from other philologists. Stokes' archive also resides at University College London; the 4 box collection comprises his working notes on philology.

References

Sources

External links

* *
Stokes bibliography
at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

's CELT project
Irish Texts edited, some translated, by Whitley Stokes, CELT project, retrieved 23 May 2007
* *
Whitley Stokes Library
at

Stokes Papers
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Whitley 1830 births 1909 deaths Celtic studies scholars Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Fellows of the British Academy Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Companions of the Order of the Star of India Administrators in British India Irish Protestants People from Howth Members of the Council of the Governor General of India