In 1867, he was elected to both the federal and provincial assemblies; he was named solicitor general in the Quebec cabinet, serving in that post from 1867 to 1873.
He was named Queen's Counsel in 1868.
Irvine served attorney general for the province from 1873 to 1874.
In 1876, he resigned from his seat in the Quebec assembly to serve as commissioner for the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway.
He was president of the Quebec Bar from 1872 to 1873 and from 1884 to 1885.
Irvine also served as chancellor for Bishop's College from 1875 to 1878.
He resigned from the provincial assembly in 1884 to accept an appointment as judge in the Court of Vice-Admiralty in the Quebec district; in 1891, he was named to the Exchequer Court in the same district.
He died in Quebec City in 1897.
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