Walter Carpenter (3 April 1871 – 25 February 1926) was a prominent socialist and trade union organiser active in Ireland in the early 20th century.

[4] In July 1911, he was arrested and jailed for one month, having been found guilty of "using language calculated to lead to a breach of the peace and having endeavoured to degrade the King in the esteem of his subjects".

Carpenter, in line with his Republican and Socialist outlook, had denounced monarchism ahead of the forthcoming visit of George V to Dublin.

Upon his release, he was greeted by leading figures in Irish left-wing politics at the time such as James Connolly, Helena Molony and Jim Larkin, who had previously paid his bail of £40.

During the strike, he gave a speech welcoming the release of James Connolly, and another union leader William Partridge from prison.

In this speech Walter revealed that the city's Chief Magistrate E.G. Swifte, notorious for harsh judgements during the strike and who had earlier jailed Connolly, was himself a shareholder in William Martin Murphy's Dublin United Tram Company.

His opponent, James Gallagher, used ethnic and sectarian animosity, referring to Carpenter as "non-Irish" and a proponent of "Anti-Christian Socialism".