Choose an Infrared Receiver that works with 3.3V. For example a TSOP31236.
Connect its output signal directly to the BBB GPIO capable pin, e.g. P8_07.
make prepare
make install
Add a following line into /etc/modules to enable module to receive IR on the pin P8_07:
lirc-bbb gpio_in_pin=66
Reboot the BBB and verify that /dev/lirc0 file is present.
http://www.lirc.org/html/configuration-guide.html
Or see an example in the "example_lirc_conf" directory.