Follow the above instructions, replacing your info, but at the end don't click OK until you have changed the pirch.ini filename to pirch2.ini. Then you can load pirch2.ini or pirch.ini to log on with either Profile. Replace existing file. You should see a lot of information about the server scroll by, and usually quite a few kill messages. IRC isn't terribly reliable, as most of the net isn't either.
Disconnects are fairly common.
Ping Pong is a term used to measure in seconds the response time from your keyboard to the server. Sometimes you'll encounter delays in this and if it gets real bad you'll be disconnected. Sometimes, especially in the evening when it's busy, it's hard to log on. Just keep trying, or try a different server. When you are disconnected, just reconnect.