# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Irwin, Joseph

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​IRWIN. (Lieutenant, 1814. f-p., 35; h-p., 6.)
Joseph Irwin, born 27 Feb. 1792, is third son of the late Thos. Irwin, Esq., of Justustown, near Carlisle, by Jane, second daughter of John Senhouse, Esq., of Calder Abbey. He is brother of the present Thos. Irwin, Esq., of Justustown and Calder Abbey, a Captain on half-pay of the Enniskillen Dragoons, and a Magistrate for Cumberland, for which county he served as High Sheriff in 1836; and of Lieut. John Irwin, of the Hon.E.I.Co.’s service, who died 21 Sept. 1824.
This officer entered the Navy, 27 April, 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol. (under the auspices of Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge), on board the Thetis 38, Capts. Wm. Hall Gage and John Miller, under whom he was actively employed, part of the time as Midshipman, on the coasts of Spain and France, and on various parts of the Mediterranean until Feb. 1808. He then became attached to the Royal William, Capt. Hon. Courtenay Boyle; and in the following April he joined the Undaunted 38, Capts. Thos. Jas. Maling and Geo. Chas. Mackenzie. After he had cruized for nearly three years in that ship off the Western Islands, in the West Indies, and again on the Mediterranean station, he was received, in March, 1811, on board the Fame 74, Capt. Walter Bathurst, and sent to co-operate with the patriots on the Spanish coast, where, having attained the rating of Master’s Mate, he assumed command of a division of small-arm men, and frequently came into contact with the enemy, particularly at Xavia and Denia. On the issue of the unsuccessful attack made by General Donkin on the latter fortress, Mr. Irwin, who had been employed on shore throughout the operations, took charge of a boat and brought off the last half company of the 81st Regt., under a destructive fire from the French garrison, who had advanced to the very beach. So gallant was his conduct in this instance, that on reaching the Fame he was publicly thanked by Capt. Bathurst on the quarter-deck, as likewise by the General in public orders. He afterwards commanded a gun-boat with a Midshipman and 16 men under his orders at the siege of Tarragona; and it was his fortune likewise to co-operate in the reduction of the strong fort of St. Philippe in the Col de Balaquer. The representations that were in consequence made in his favour to Lord Exmouth induced the latter, in May, 1814, to afford him a berth on board his flag-ship the Caledonia 120. On 1 of following Sept. he had the gratification of being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant; and in the course of the next Nov. he received an appointment to the Opossum 10, Capts. Sir John Chas. Richardson and Lord John Hay; in which vessel, prior to her being paid off in Sept. 1815, we find him engaged in affording assistance to the French Royalists in La Vendée. Since Dec. 1821 Lieut. Irwin has been uninterruptedly employed as an Inspecting Commander in the Coast Guard – a service from the heads of which he has had the satisfaction of eliciting strong testimonials.
He married, 1 Sept. 1826, Emily, second daughter of John Dixon, Esq., of Dublin, by whom he has issue six sons and four daughters. His second son is a Midshipmnn in the R.N. Agents – Messrs. Halford and Co.