He travelled abroad in France and Belgium, and had started to practice independently in Liverpool by 1867, initially having offices in Derby Buildings, Fenwick Street.
[2] Most of Kirby's works were in Northwest England, with occasional examples in North Wales, Staffordshire, Shropshire, and elsewhere.
He was an architect to the Roman Catholic Church,[3] and most of his ecclesiastical works were for this denomination.
[4] His most notable work in this genre is the Sodality Chapel for St Francis Xavier's Church, Liverpool.
[10] He also designed and carried out work on commercial and domestic properties, including Dee House, Chester.