Whitley Stokes

Stokes, Whitley (1830-1909), Celtic philologist. Born in Dublin, he was educated at TCD. He joined the English Bar in 1855 and after several years' practice went to India, where he was prominent in legal administration. His study of Sanskrit led to an edition of Hindu Law Books in 1865. Numerous editorial works on the glosses culminated in the Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (1901-3; repr. DIAS, 1975), edited with John Strachan, a compilation based on material in Continental as well as Irish libraries. His other editions include The Calendar of Oengus the Culdee, and an Irish version of Lucan's Pharsalia. His two-volume edition of The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick (1887) presents text, translation, and commentary on Bethu Phátraic.