Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, in Dublin, Ireland. The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park. His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876), an Anglo-Irishman from Dublin, and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), of English and Irish descent, who was raised in County Sligo. Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Baronet. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there. Abraham was a senior civil servant.