He later worked for Henry Darley, a skillful builder and stone-cutter from Meath, based in Abbey Street, Dublin. Kirk was acclaimed for his fine relief work on mantle-pieces and monuments. Much of his work can be seen in the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal Dublin Society and in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
He executed numerous church memorials throughout the country.
One of his earliest commissions, which appeared in 1809, was the statue of Nelson for Nelson"s Pillar in O"Connell Street, Dublin. This monument was destroyed by an explosion on March 8, 1966.
Another of Kirk’s commissions was the statue, in Limerick, of Thomas Spring Rice, a former Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He died in 1845 and is interred in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
Jane Vernon (née Kingsbury, wife of Reverend George Vernon, Rector of Carlow, died 1827 aged 29) in Saint Mary"s church, Carlow.
Kirk"s relief shows the poor and the young of Carlow mourning her. Nathaniel Sneyd (died 1833) had two memorials, one in Cavan and a life-size neo-classical recumbent effigy in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Kirk represents Sneyd lying dead with a female figure weeping over him.
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Joseph Storey (d 1838) in Cavan. Review George Hill (d 1837) at Comber, County Down. Several memorials in Saint Ann"s Church, Dublin.
John Chambers (d 1800), in Saint George"s church, Dublin.
Thomas Abbott (d 1837) in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. Sir John Andrew Stevenson (died 1833).
In 1843, a marble cenotaph sculpted by Kirk was erected in the Musicians Corner at Christ Church Cathedral. His monument has a bust and a single choirboy.
Originally there were two choir boys, but the sculptor found such difficulty in extracting payment for his work that he removed the second one.
Doctor Spray (d1827), in Saint Patrick"s Cathedral, Dublin. Thomas Ball (d1826), in Saint Patrick"s Cathedral. Review Thomas Clarke and others in the Pro-Cathedral, Dublin.
He worked on committees in the Royal Dublin Society and he was a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
