Language courses in Dublin: free CDETB English, Ballsbridge €90 classes, Trinity, Cervantes and Irish class fees

Quick answer: Dublin’s cheapest route to English is City of Dublin ETB, whose Adult Education Service runs free classes, including English, in over 150 locations. For other languages, City of Dublin FET College Ballsbridge charges €90 for a 10-week evening class, Trinity College’s extramural courses cost €395 for 24 weeks, and Instituto Cervantes charges €420 for 30 hours of Spanish. Irish classes cost €215 in person at Conradh na Gaeilge or €240 at Gaelchultúr.

Free English classes through City of Dublin ETB

City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) is the main public provider of adult English in the city. Its Adult Education Service says it provides free classes in adult education and community centres in over 150 locations, and that all its courses are free of charge. Its English (ESOL) programmes are aimed at people who have come to live in Ireland, including asylum seekers, refugees and economic migrants from inside and outside the EU. The service describes them as free, flexible, part-time classes at a range of levels, from English language and literacy classes of four to six people to Business English, plus some free online classes that carry no accreditation.

You meet an ESOL coordinator first, who assesses your English and finds a suitable class. CDETB’s regional pages say you need your PPS number when you register.

ETB evening classes in other languages

CDETB’s further education colleges also run fee-paying evening courses. City of Dublin FET College Ballsbridge publishes its language fees:

Course	When	Fee
Spanish Beginners; Spanish Pre-Intermediate	Monday evenings, 10 weeks from 14 September	€90
Italian Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced and Advanced Level 2	Monday afternoons and evenings, 10 weeks	€90
English as a Foreign Language (Intermediate)	Tuesday 6.00–7.30pm, 10 weeks from 15 September	€90
IELTS preparation (intensive)	Monday and Wednesday 6.00–8.30pm, 10 weeks	€270

Ballsbridge also lists German, Italian and French beginners courses. The college supplies materials except a textbook and keeps class sizes limited. At €90 for 15 hours, these are the cheapest paid language classes we found in the city.

University and extramural courses

Trinity College’s School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences runs extramural evening courses that start in September and run for 24 weeks over two terms, usually 6.30–8.30pm in the Arts Building. Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish cost €395, and Irish Sign Language €400, held at the Centre for Deaf Studies on South Leinster Street. A reduced fee of €197.50 is available to people receiving social welfare payments. Fees are paid in advance and are not refundable once the course has started. Trinity’s free Irish classes are for its own students and staff only. For background on ISL, see what the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 means for learners.

Cultural institutes

Instituto Cervantes Dublin, on Lincoln Place, prices its autumn 2026 general Spanish courses at €420 for 30 hours (3 hours a week), conversation courses at €280 for 20 hours over 10 weeks, and five-week DELE preparation at €140, with discounts for early enrolment, returning students, university students and over-65s. Alliance Française Dublin, on Kildare Street, runs French courses of 4, 6 or 12 weeks between September and November 2026, on site, online or in a hybrid format. It offers a free placement assessment and a 10% discount for third-level students, over-65s, unemployed learners and second enrolments, but we could not find its tuition fees on its course pages. The Goethe-Institut on Merrion Square teaches German.

Irish-language classes

Conradh na Gaeilge teaches 10-week courses from its head office at 66 Camden Street Lower. Its FAQ gives the price as €215 in person and €150 online. Gaelchultúr, at 11 Clare Street, charges €240 for 10 weekly two-hour classes on site and €220 for its online equivalent, both including a digital handbook. If you want a certificate at the end, see how the TEG Irish-language certificate works; for the wider picture, see the legal status of Irish under the Official Languages Act 2003.

Free language help at the library

Dublin City Libraries gives members free access to Transparent Language Online, uTalk and Road to IELTS, the British Council’s IELTS preparation course. You sign in with your library card number and PIN.

Private lessons and schools: typical prices

We did not find a published source for typical private tutor rates in Dublin. For national ranges, see our Ireland language course costs guide, and tutoring vs group classes before paying for one-to-one lessons.

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How to choose a language course in Dublin

Language classes are not licensed like a trade, so compare providers on what they publish and what they will put in writing:

Level and hours. Ask which level the course starts and finishes at and how many teaching hours it includes. Most providers use the CEFR scale in our guide to CEFR levels A1 to C2.
Price per hour, not per course. The courses on this page run from 15 to 48 hours, so divide the fee by the teaching hours before you compare.
What is extra. Textbooks, membership, exam entry and payment charges are often added on top of tuition.
Accreditation. Ask whether the course leads to a QQI award, university credits, a certificate of attendance or nothing formal. For English schools recruiting students from abroad, ask whether the school holds the ACELS/QQI quality mark it claims and check it with QQI.
Minimum numbers and refunds. Several providers here only run a class if enough people enrol, and some fees are non-refundable once the course starts. Ask for the policy in writing.
English exams. If you need IELTS for work or study, check whether the course prepares for the exact test you will book: see how IELTS, TOEFL and Cambridge English differ.

Language course providers in Dublin

These providers appear in public business and education listings for Dublin. We have not checked their teaching, prices or accreditation, and they have not paid to appear.