I've tried to use this, but I'm on multiple servers with tons of channels, and it gets a bit unwieldy without tabs. I also can't get it to minimize to tray, and having to "keep it open" at all times is somewhat annoying. I'll stick with Quassel for now.
Really impressive work though, you should be proud!
What channels are still active? I connected to freenode for the first time in years a few months ago and it was a ghost town. Would love to get back into some programming/tech communities on IRC.
Freenode melted down a few years back, there was a lot of drama around what happened, but I don't think it's active anymore and if it is, it's probably not what you remember. The community splintered and moved to other hosts.
Really impressive work though, you should be proud!