Walter Kirwan
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,[1] 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.[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. After leaving Louvain he went to London.[3]
In 1785 Kirwn cease to operate as a Catholic priest, and in 1787 joined the established church (Anglican) and was appointed to St. Peter's Church, Aungier Street, Dublin. He became a canon of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin as the prebend of Howth, Co. Dublin, and rector of Church of St Nicholas Without, Dublin (Church of Ireland). In 1800 he was appointed Dean of Killala.[4]
Kirwan married Wilhelmina Richards on 22 September 1798. They had two sons and two daughters. His son Anthony La Touche Kirwan also became an Anglican priest. He died aged 51, on 27 October 1805 at his home in Mount Pleasant, Dublin.[5]
Kirwan House, an orphanage for girls, was named in his honour due to his fundraising preaching on their behalf.[3] In 1816 a volume of his sermons was published.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ Walter Blake Kirwan - A Life
- ^ A sketch of the Life and Character of the Rev Dean Kirwan from Sermons by the late Rev. Walter Blake Kirwan
- ^ a b Walter Blake Kirwan by Desmond McCabe, Dictionary of Irish Biography.
- ^ 'La Touche Bridge to Hoggen Green' by M. H. Daly, Dublin Historical Record, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Sep. - Nov., 1945), pp. 121-133 (13 pages). Published by: The Old Dublin Society.
- ^ Walter Blake Kirwan www.libraryireland.com
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
- Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism
- Deans of Killala
- Old University of Leuven alumni
- Academic staff of the Old University of Leuven
- Christian clergy from County Galway
- 1754 births
- 1805 deaths
- 18th-century Irish Anglican priests
- 19th-century Irish Anglican priests
- 18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests