Irvine is a city in Estill County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,843 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Estill County. It is located on the Kentucky River at the junction of Kentucky Route 52 and Kentucky Route 89.
It was built on land once granted to Green Clay. It was founded on January 28 1812 and named for William Irvine, an early settler and Indian fighter. The town did not incorporate until 1849, and was ransacked on October 13, 1864 by Confederate guerrillas, who burned the jail.
The town remained small well until the 1870s, when the population finally passed 300. Construction of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's North Fork through town, as well as a coal boom around the turn of the century, greatly increased the local population.
Irvine annually hosts the Mountain Mushroom Festival over the last weekend of April. Irvine, along with the nearby City of Ravenna, are known as the "Twin Cities".
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.5 square miles (4.0 km²), of which, 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (2.58%) is water.
There were 1,259 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $20,286, and the median income for a family was $25,046. Males had a median income of $28,988 versus $17,194 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,075. About 20.9% of families and 28.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.4% of those under age 18 and 22.0% of those age 65 or over.