Discover herbal medicine, one year at a time
You will train in a working clinic with real patients from your first year and learn to prepare remedies in the college dispensary. The course is structured in such a way as to allow students to fit clinical training around work and/or family commitments.
Begin with a one-year certificate and progress to a full qualification as a Medical Herbalist. Online study, part-time, with clinical training in County Kilkenny in Ireland.
Course Delivery
Blended learning through online study and practical clinical training.
Duration
First year. Two structured terms. Progress through years two three and four if desired.
Start Date
21 September 2026. Enrolment now open.
Fees
€4,350 per year. Payment plan available.
Your herbal studies pathway…
From a one-year certificate to full qualification as a Medical Herbalist. Online study, part-time, with clinical training at our working clinic in Castlecomer.
Certificate in Herbal Studies
First Year
The foundation: herbs, natural healing and plant-based nutrition, with 150 hours of clinical training. A complete qualification if you stop here. View programme
Diploma in Plant-based Nutrition & Iridology
Second Year
A professional qualification in its own right: graduates practise as nutritionists and iridologists, and qualify for professional indemnity insurance. View programme
Licentiate in Herbal Medicine
Third and fourth Year
The full training: 600 clinical hours, bespoke formulation, and qualification to practise as a Master Herbalist. View programme
Every year is a complete stage of study, giving you the freedom to continue at your own pace.
See where you would train…
This short film gives you a real sense of what studying at Core College looks like: the dispensary, the herb garden, the clinical training, and the students who are already on this path.
Three unique elements offered in the herbal medicine programmes
A working clinic
Members of the public attend with real health concerns. Students observe live consultations from year one and move to supervised practice as their clinical training progresses.
Organic herb gardens
Core College Medicinal Herb Gardens at the Castlecomer campus are certified organic. Students learn the basics of growing the herbs used in the clinic.
A herbal Dispensary
Every patient receives their own formulation, unique to their needs . Students learn to prepare tinctures, bowel powders, infusions, decoctions and herbal other formulae.
Study designed for busy lives
Most of our students are working adults with jobs, families and full lives, who have been drawn to herbal medicine for years and are finally ready to study it properly. The programme is built around that reality.
All academic study is online. There are no live lectures and no fixed class times, so you study at what time of the day works for you.
Each module runs for three weeks. In the first two weeks, a topic is introduced, and you work through a small, carefully chosen set of readings and recordings. The third week is given over to the assignment. Across the year, we suggest setting aside about an hour and a half to two hours a day, five days a week, though when those hours fall up to each individual student.
Student groups consist of twelve to fifteen students, supported throughout by a tutor. All tutors are qualified herbalists.
“You are never studying alone; you are part of a cohort, connected to peers and guided by an experienced practitioner”
In-person attendance is reserved entirely for clinical training. Students attend the Castlecomer clinic for around fourteen days a year, plus two weekends a year at the Maynooth campus.
Clinical training begins in the first year, during which students observe patient consultations, learn how experienced herbal practitioners work with individual patients, and gain practical experience in the dispensary.
Clinic days run Tuesday to Friday, and the dates are published ahead of each semester. Students choose the days that suit them and attend from one to four days at a time.
Students living abroad continue their academic studies from home and travel only for the clinical days, which can be taken in blocks of one, two or three weeks. Core college has students from across Europe and the USA.
Where the full training leads
Most graduates establish their own practice, seeing patients individually and preparing a bespoke remedy for each of them. Because clinical training runs through all four years, you will have experienced interaction with real patients long before you qualify.
Some go on to teach and to write, contributing to the wider tradition of herbal medicine and natural healing.
Others work alongside practitioners in related fields, in clinics where herbal medicine sits beside other disciplines.
Graduates of the Licentiate are eligible to join the Irish Association of Master Medical Herbalists in Ireland and the Association of Master Herbalists in the United Kingdom, the professional bodies for Master Herbalists in both jurisdictions.
“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
In America, we really don't have any schools for herbalism that are quite this quality. That was what attracted me to this school, just how in-depth the programme is.
— Jillian H. Student - USA
We're here to help each other. It's not a competitive course. We're all on this learning journey together.
— Antoinette, Student from Northern Ireland
Fees, dates and how places are offered
Dates
The next programme begins on 21 September 2026. The academic year runs from late September to June, in two terms, with a break over Christmas and a short break at Easter.
Entry
There are no formal academic requirements. Students must be at least eighteen, with good spoken and written English and the ability to study at this level. What matters most is a genuine interest in the subject.
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On successful completion of the programme and its assessments, students are awarded a Certificate in Herbal Studies by Core College.
Graduates are equipped to use herbal medicine, vitalistic nutrition, and natural healing principles in a personal and family setting.
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Study fees are €4,350 per year. This includes full clinical training each year. An optional payment plan is available on request.
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The next course commences on the 21st of September 2026.
How places are offered
Places are offered following a short interview, held in person at the college or online.
Take the full brochure away with you
The brochure covers all four years module by module, describes what a clinical day actually involves, and outlines the three payment options.
Please enter your email address, and the brochure will be sent to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. You begin with the first year, which leads to the Certificate in Herbal Studies and is a complete qualification in its own right. After that year, you can apply to continue to the second, and after the second, you can apply to continue to the third and fourth. Each stage is a decision you make when you reach it, not one you make now. Fees are paid a year at a time for the same reason.
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Yes. No prior knowledge of herbal medicine, nutrition or anatomy is required, and the programme is built to take you from the beginning. Many of our students have been reading about plants and healing for years without ever studying it formally. There are no formal academic requirements. You need to be at least eighteen, with good spoken and written English and the ability to study at this level. What matters most is genuine interest and a willingness to commit to the work.
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Fees are €4,350 for each year, and that includes the full clinical training for that year. There are three ways to pay: a single payment of €4,350; two payments of €2,300, the first on registration and the second halfway through the year; or €2,350 on registration followed by five monthly payments of €470. Payment plans are available in each subsequent year. You will notice small increases between the options, which cover the additional administrative work involved. Registration is confirmed on payment.
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During the academic year, we suggest planning for around one and a half to two hours of focused study a day, five days a week. That is a guide rather than a rule. There are no live lectures and no fixed class times, so when those hours fall is entirely your own, and material you miss on a given day is always there to return to. Each module runs for three weeks, with a topic introduced across the first two and the third week left clear for the assignment. It is a serious programme, and it rewards consistent engagement.
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In-person attendance is reserved entirely for clinical training. Across the year, you will complete approximately 150 hours, which works out at around fourteen days at the Castlecomer clinic and gardens, plus two weekends at the Maynooth campus where students from across the world review clinical cases together. Clinic days run Tuesday to Friday, and the dates are published about six months in advance, so you choose the ones that suit you. A single day here and there is fine, and so are several in a row. If a month passes when you cannot attend, that is fine too.
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Yes. All academic study continues online from home, and only the clinical training requires travel. Those days can be taken in blocks of one, two or three weeks, and with careful planning a single three-week visit can cover an entire year's clinical training. Students have joined us from across Europe, the UK and the USA. Castlecomer has a hotel and a range of guesthouses within walking distance of the college, and Kilkenny City, twenty minutes away, offers a wider choice. We are happy to talk through how the schedule could work for you.
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Each three-week module ends with an assignment, written during the third week when no new material is introduced. Clinical training is assessed through your participation in the clinic and the dispensary rather than by examination. In the later years, the assessment deepens, with examinations as the material becomes more demanding, and a dissertation in the fourth year. There are no timed tests you have to sit at a fixed hour.
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It depends on how far you go. The first year equips you to use herbal medicine, nutrition and natural healing confidently for yourself and your family. Graduates of the second year practise professionally as nutritionists and iridologists, taking on patients and offering consultations, and are eligible for professional indemnity insurance. That year is also recognised by the Irish Institute of Iridologists. Completing the full four years qualifies you as a Master Herbalist, able to assess patients, prescribe herbal medicines and prepare and dispense remedies. Licentiate graduates are eligible for membership of the Irish Association of Master Medical Herbalists in Ireland and the Association of Master Herbalists in the United Kingdom. Most establish their own practice. Some go on to teach and to write, and others work alongside practitioners in related fields.
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The discovery call is a twenty-minute conversation with the college team, and nothing follows from it automatically. If you would like to take things further afterwards, an interview can be arranged, held either at Castlecomer or online. It is a conversation rather than a test, and it exists so that both sides can be confident the programme is right for you. Places are offered following that conversation, and registration is confirmed on payment.
Book a Discovery Call
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.
You can book using the calendar provided or simply phone the college during office hours to arrange this. The phone number is +353 56 4440254.
Want to understand the full programme before you apply?
This 29-minute introduction covers the philosophy behind our approach to herbal medicine, the structure of the full four-year pathway, what clinical training looks like in practice, and what a career in herbal medicine can offer. It is the most complete picture of what Core College is and what we teach.