RCB Library Notes08 Nov 17

Bram Stoker’s baptism in Clontarf

Bram Stoker, the famed gothic novelist, was born on this day, 8 November 1847. The Stoker family were members of the Church of Ireland parish of Clontarf, county Dublin, where they resided at 15 Marino Crescent. His parents were Abraham and Charlotte Matilda and they had seven children, all of whom were baptised in parish church dedicated to St John the Baptist, including Abraham, baptised a month after his birth, on December 30, 1847. At some point thereafter his name would be shortened to the more familiar ‘Bram’. 

The ceremony was conducted by Revd Edmund Nugent, whose father – Sir Edmund Nugent – Abraham Stoker would have known through his involvement with the Tailor’s Guild. Indeed, the connection between the families was so close that their son Richard was given ‘Nugent’ as a second name. The ceremony was witnessed by three people, Elizabeth Walker, Samuel Walker, and Thomas Blake Thornley (a brother of Abraham’s mother, Charlotte) whom we may presume acted as Abraham’s God–parents.

We are grateful to the local historian Douglas Appleyard for his assistance with this information.