Trinity College, Dublin
Stokes was born on 23 July 1841 to Henry Stokes, the county surveyor of Kerry. A member of a notable family of academics associated with Trinity College, Dublin, Stokes was a grandson of Whitley Stokes (Regius Professor of Physic at Trinity College, Dublin), the great-grandson of Gabriel Stokes (Professor of Mathematics at Trinity College, Dublin) and a great-great-grandson of Gabriel Stokes (the Deputy Surveyor General of Ireland). Other family connections included John Stokes (Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College, Dublin), William Stokes (Regius Professor of Physic at Trinity College, Dublin), Whitley Stokes and distantly, Sir George Stokes, 1st baronet. He was educated at Kilkenny College, Trinity College, Dublin and entered the Madras Civil Service in 1858.