As above do we have any IRC'ers in the clan and what network you hiding on?
I started IRC back in 1994 when IRCNet and EFnet split then Undernet being born. In 1996 I joined QuakeNet and have spent my days since as staff and retired back as a normal user. In between that I've helped many networks get established some of which become sucessful and those that got took over and fell in to bad hands and no longer exist.
I am currently an irc operator now only on my own little network but I use quakenet as my main. It's a shame to see irc die because the likes of facebook, slack, discord and such and a very few of us who remain who think irc should never fade out.