As the Labour candidate for the seat of Logan, he was easily defeated by the sitting member,[3] James Stodart of the Ministerialist Party by 565 votes to 239.

[6] Kirwan went on to hold the seat for twenty years until he was disendorsed by his party in favour of Australian Workers' Union organizer, Robert Funnell, for the 1932 state election.

He was appointed chairman of committees in 1920 and in 1924 was one of those elevated to cabinet during the brief and abortive rebellion against Premier Ted Theodore.

[2] After losing his nomination in 1932, Premier William Forgan Smith appointed Kirwan as an official of the Queensland Tourist Bureau.

[2] He was accorded a state funeral, to be presided over by Archbishop Duhig at St Stephen's Cathedral and proceeded to the Nudgee Catholic Cemetery.