An IRC Client is an application which alllows the user to connect to an IRC Network (a network which uses the IRC protocol). A popular free IRC Client is Gaim, which also connects to other networks such as AIM and MSN. An example paid client is mIRC. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. It came to light during 1988 and led the way for other chat servers and engines such as AIM and MSN to enter. Opera has a free IRC client built-in called Opera Chat.