Walter Blake Kirwan (1754–1805) was an Irish priest of the Church of Ireland and a noted preacher. Born in Gort, County Galway in 1754 and raised a Roman Catholic, he studied in the Jesuit school St. Omer's College, intending to study for the priesthood. 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.