ABOUT ME
Terrance Irwin was born in San Francisco, California, USA on October 5, 1944. He received his education in a Catholic parochial grammar school and archdiocesan high school. After high school he began a career as a sheet metal worker and served a four-year apprenticeship followed by four years as a journeyman sheet metal worker. In 1971 he received his contractor license(s): C43-Sheet Metal and C20-Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning. He spent the next twenty four years as an independent contractor. In addition to this, during his thirty two years in the sheet metal industry, he also acquired a General Building Contactor’s license (B) and a Real Estate Broker’s License which he used for his own building construction projects during the 1970s. Realizing the value of education he continued taking college courses in the evening and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1973. History in general and family history in particular has been and continues to be an important endeavor for him and he has spent virtually countless hours in this pursuit.
The first presentation following this biography is Mr. Irwin’s attempt to fully explain the Ó Ciarṁacáin/Irwin surname and how it fits into the all Ireland scheme of patronymic surnames. It also is an attempt to explain how the Ó Ciarṁacáin /Irwin surname fits into the Munster provincial scheme of things.
As far as Irish surnames are concerned he is fortunate to have a surname that originated in one of the most sacred mythological centers in all of Ireland and arguably the most sacred mythological center of Ireland's Munster province.
The second presentation follows a “picture-essay” format and tells the story of Mr. Irwin’s grandfather, William “Billy” Irwin, who was one of Colorado’s early day boxing champions. Hopefully Colorado historians and boxing enthusiasts will find this work useful and informative.
Whether or not Mr. Irwin has been successful in these presentations is for others to judge and viewers input and criticism, via the internet, are most welcome.