Sir Walter l'Enfant the younger (died c.1317), lord of Carnalway, County Kildare was an Irish

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and landowner.Ball p.56 He was the son of Sir Walter l'Enfant, or l'Enfaunt (died c.1294) who, like his son, was a judge of the Court of the Justiciar of Ireland, and was also

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

. He married Joan Butler, daughter of John Butler and Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of David Fitzwilliam, 3rd

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

of Naas and Matilda de Lacy. Through the first Sir Walter's marriage to Joan the l'Enfant family acquired the lordship of Carnalway. The younger Walter entered the household of King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

in 1279. He became Chief Justice of the Court of the Justiciar in 1298, and held the office until 1311, apart from two intervals when he was Chief Justice in eyre (circuit). As justice in eyre, he went mainly to

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

on an unknown date. He was a close associate of John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare: he accompanied him to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and was a witness to the

truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

of 1295 which ended Kildare's lengthy

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

with

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught (; ; 1259 – 29 July 1326), called The Red Earl ( Latinized to de Burgo), was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries and father of ...

. He was summoned twice for military service in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was Constable of Kildare Castle 1302-1310. In 1308 he was given

licence A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to go to England. He probably died before 1317. He married Elizabeth, by whom he had issue including the third Walter l'Enfant, who saw military service in the 1330s. In 1346 he became Keeper of

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

Castle and a keeper of the peace for County Kildare.''Patent Roll 20 Edward III'' After her first husband's death Elizabeth remarried William de Wellesley, an ancestor of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

Sources

*Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' London John Murray 1926 *Mackay, Ronan "L'Enfaunt, Walter" ''Cambridge Dictionary of Irish Biography'' 2009

Footnotes

{{reflist Irish judges People from County Kildare