IRC stands for "Internet Relay Chat". It was originally written by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988. mIRC is a chat client written by Khaled Mardam-Bey, the first public version was released on the 28th of February, 1995.
You can set in "your home" preferences to have replies to your favorite topics emailed to you. In general, ppl arent going to email a stranger as it could set them up to be spammed.