Margaret McNair Stokes was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 antiquarian

Antiquarian

An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...

 noted for her illustrations.

Born in Dublin, she was the daughter of Sir William Stokes and his wife Mary (née Black). One brother, Whitley Stokes, was a leading Celticist

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

, a second, William

William Stokes (surgeon)

Sir William Stokes was an Irish surgeon.The son of William Stokes, he was born in Dublin, studied medicine there and at Berlin, London, Paris, and Vienna. In 1864 he settled in practice in Clare St., Dublin until 1878 when he moved to his father's house in Merrion Square. In 1864 he was elected...

, followed their father into medicine and was a leading surgeon. Important figures in the field of antiquities such as artist Sir George Petrie, lawyer and poet Sir Samuel Ferguson

Samuel Ferguson

Sir Samuel Ferguson was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. Perhaps the most important Ulster-Scot poet of the 19th century, because of his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history he can be seen as a forerunner of William Butler Yeats and the other poets...

, Edwin Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl

Edwin Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl

Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl KP, FRS was a British Peer. He was styled Viscount Adare from 1824 to 1850....

, and historians James Henthorn Todd

James Henthorn Todd

James Henthorn Todd was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavours as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish...

 and William Reeves

William Reeves (bishop)

William Reeves was an Irish antiquarian and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore from 1886 until his death...

 were frequent visitors to the Stokes family home, and this is said to have begun Margaret's interest in Irish antiquities.

Her first published works were illustrations and illuminations for an 1861 edition of Ferguson's poem The Cromlech at Howth; the title page conflated parts of the illuminations on two pages of the Book of Kells

Book of Kells

The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...

. In the 1870s she edited Dunraven's Notes on Irish Architecture (3 volumes, 1875–1877) after the author's death in 1871. Her Early Christian Art In Ireland (1887, 2nd edition 1911) was well regarded, and if reviewer Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

 was unmoved by Stokes' prose, he praised her illustrations. She produced two works on early medieval Irish saints in Europe, Six Months in the Apennines (1892) and Three Months in The Forest of France (1895). Her High Crosses of Ireland was incomplete at her death.

She was elected an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy

Royal Irish Academy

The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...

 in 1876 and of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

The Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is a learned society based in Ireland, whose aims are 'to preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquities, language, literature and history of Ireland'. ...

.

She died at her home in Howth

Howth

Howth is an area in Fingal County near Dublin city in Ireland. Originally just a small fishing village, Howth with its surrounding rural district is now a busy suburb of Dublin, with a mix of dense residential development and wild hillside, all on the peninsula of Howth Head. The only...

, County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

 in 1900. Her papers are with Trinity College Dublin and the National Gallery of Ireland

National Gallery of Ireland

The National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...

 holds a chalk portrait by Walter Osborne

Walter Osborne

Walter Frederick Osborne was an Irish impressionist landscape and portrait painter. Most of his paintings featured women, children, and the elderly as well as rural scenes.-Career:...

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