Personal data
John Irwin
Born 1728  
in Dublin
Died May, 1788  
in Parma, Italy
Colonel Irwin

British army officer. Married three times, firstly (1749) to Elizabeth Henry, secondly (1753) to Anne Barry and thirdly to Caroline, with whom he had two children.

A Colonel in 1762. Sometime head of the 57th Regiment1. Member of Parliament for East Grinstead (1762-1783) Governor of Gibraltar (1765-1767), Commander-in-Chief in Ireland (1775-1782). Close friend of Lord George Germain and sometime American Secretary for the UK Government.

Boswell met a Colonel Irwin at the Sheridan's on December 31, 1762. Pottle (in Boswell's London Journal gives his first name as John. Boswell described him as "a genteel, well-bred, pretty man."

A Review of the Troops in Phoenix Park
John Irwin (Wikipedia)
Boswell's London Journal 1762-1763

Unless otherwise noted, the source for a dated quotation of Boswell's is generally the corresponding volume of the Yale Trade Editions of Boswell's journals.