I was interested in trying to make a IRC server for my node, but it looked like too much work. I started to consider a TinyMUX game server instead. I might still end up doing that too. But since then I found a good walkthrough for setting up a IRC server. It is at https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/how-to-build-your-own-irc-server-with-inspircd-and-anope/

You will need to be familiar with Linux or another Unix-like operating system to follow it.

If you prefer Debian, there is a package for the server in stable and for anope in backports. Both packages are available for armhf, so, if you prefer, it should be possible to run the server on a Raspberry Pi instead of a PC or Mac.

The server supports encryption. Be careful that you keep encryption disabled.