Walter Blake Kirwan (1754–1805) was an Irish priest of the Church of Ireland and a noted preacher.
Aged 17 he went to St Croix, in the West Indies, then a Danish colony, where his father's cousin was a wealthy businessman.
Kirwan reportedly disagreed with slavery and did not like the climate so he returned to Europe.
[citation needed] On the advice of his maternal uncle, the Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland, Archbishop Anthony Blake[2] he went to the University of Louvain, completing his studies for the priesthood with distinction, and following ordination in 1777, he held the chair of Moral and Natural Philosophy.
[5] Kirwan House, an orphanage for girls, was named in his honour due to his fundraising preaching on their behalf.