About us

  • 26+ Years running

  • 1,000+ Students trained

  • 2000 Founded

Founded in 2000 by Helen Begadon, Core College trains practitioners in herbal medicine, reflexology, nutrition, and organic growing. Everything we teach is grounded in one belief: the body heals itself, given the right conditions.

Most medical training is built around the idea of controlling symptoms. At Core College, we teach a different tradition, one rooted in vitalism and the hygienic movement, which understands health as the body's natural state and disease as a departure from it.

We do not treat diseases. We treat people. And because every person is different, every remedy we prescribe is made specifically for them, not from a ready-made formula, but from a careful reading of their individual constitution.

We teach you to work with the body, not to control it.

Three things you will not find at most herbal medicine schools

A working clinic

Herbal students train in a real clinic, observing and participating in live consultations. Each patient receives a remedy made specifically for them, not a standard formula. Students learn to mix tinctures, bowel powders, infusions, decoctions, fermentations, and nutritive powders in the dispensary. This is where theory becomes practice.

Certified organic herb gardens

Herbal students train in a real clinic, observing and participating in live consultations. Each patient receives a remedy made specifically for them, not a standard formula. Students learn to mix tinctures, bowel powders, infusions, decoctions, fermentations, and nutritive powders in the dispensary. This is where theory becomes practice.

A tradition worth preserving

Core College was founded specifically to preserve the tradition of Master Herbalism in Ireland, a lineage few schools still teach. That founding purpose still shapes everything we do.

We spent years looking for the right home for the college. When we found the former Presentation Convent on Kilkenny Street in Castlecomer, we knew immediately. The building had the character and the space the college needed, and the gardens, with the river running alongside them, were already there.

We have been restoring the building for three years. Most of the ground floor is now complete. The herb gardens are certified organic and growing. A processing area, where we will begin using what we grow directly in the clinic, is due to open later this year.

  • Kilkenny Street, Castlecomer, 15 minutes from Kilkenny city

  • Certified organic medicinal herb gardens

  • Working herbal medicine clinic, open to the public

  • Dispensary, classrooms, and herb processing area (opening 2026)

  • Castlecomer Discovery Park, hotel, and restaurants nearby

The College

Recognition and accreditation

Herbal Medicine

Graduates of our Herbal Medicine Programme are eligible to join the Irish Association of Master Medical Herbalists (IAMMH) in Ireland and the Association of Master Herbalists (AMH) in the UK. Both bodies recognise our graduates as qualified to practise as clinical herbalists.

Living Food Instructor, Medicinal Herb Growing Course, and selected workshops

30 to 40 percent funded by the Nationally Organised Training Scheme (NOTS) for eligible applicants (employed and resident in the Republic of Ireland).

Vitalist Nutrition and Reflexology Diploma

Accredited by the Irish Institute of Reflexologists (IIR). Graduates can join the IIR on qualification and practice as reflexologists in Ireland. The programme is also 65 percent funded by Image Skillnet for eligible applicants (employed and resident in the Republic of Ireland).

“Having a working medicinal garden and being able to actually connect with the plants is something I had not found in other schools. You cannot teach that connection. You have to live it.”

— Antonella, Herbal Medicine student

Book a Discovery Call

Not sure if this is the right path for you? A Discovery Call is the best place to start.
A 20-minute Discovery Call gives you the opportunity to ask questions, understand how the course works in practice, and get a clear sense of whether it is the right step for you.

There is no pressure and no obligation. Many students tell us that this conversation simply made the decision feel clear.

You can simply phone the college during office hours to arrange this. The phone number is +353 56 4440254.