Born: September 12, 1812, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, England.
Died: June 18, 1883, London, England.
Buried: Brompton, Middlesex, England.
Josiah was the son of hymnist Joseph Irons.
He graduated from Queens College, Oxford (BA 1833, DD 1854), and took Holy Orders in 1835. He earned his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1854.
Irons served as curate of St. Mary, Newington (1835–37); incumbent at St. Peter’s, Walworth (1837); vicar of Barkway; incumbent of Brompton; rector of Wadingham; and rector of St. Mary-Woolnoth and prebendary of St. Paul’s Cathedral (1872).
Irons took part in the ecclesiastical controversies of his day, and published extensively thereon in the form of sermons, letters, pamphlets, etc. His 1870 Bampton Lectures were on Christianity as Taught by St. Paul.
Irons’ hymn writing and translating began during his curacy at St. Mary, Newington, and continued until his death.
Many of his efforts were first printed as broadsheets, and later included in Hymns for the Christian Seasons, by R. T. Lowe, rector of Lea, Lincolnshire (Gainsburgh: 1854), and in his own collections. His titles include:
If you know where to get a good photo of Irons (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),