George Thomas StokesGeorge Thomas Stokes was an Irish church historian. He was the eldest son of John Stokes of Athlone and Margaret Forster, his wife, and was born on December 28, 1843, in Athlone, Ireland. He attended Galway Grammar School, Queen's College, Galway, an Trinity College, Dublin, where he earned a B.A. in 1864. He went on to get his M.A. in 1871, B.D. in 1881, and D.D. in 1886. In 1866, Stokes was ordained for the curacy of Dunkerrin in the diocese of Killaloe in the then established Church of Ireland, and in the following year was sent to the curacy of St. Patrick's, Newry. In 1868, he was appointed first vicar of the newly established charge of All Saints, Newtown Park, County Dublin, a position he held until his death. Stokes began studying Irish church history after joining All Saints. Dr. Reichel nominated him as his deputy in the chair of ecclesiastical history at the University of Dublin; Stokes succeeded him in 1883. Ireland and the Celtic Church, published in 1886, was an immediate success. It was followed in 1888 by his Ireland and the Anglo-Norman Church, which explored the history of Irish Christianity in greater depth. Stokes was married twice: first to Fanny, daughter of Thomas Pusey of Surbiton, Surrey, and then to Katherine, daughter of Henry J. Dudgeon of the Priory in Stillorgan, County Dublin. Read More Read Less