Interior Design Courses in Ireland

Connacht College Of Design:
The Connacht College of Design is an interior design school that specialises in the Diploma in Professional Interior Design which is offered in various venues throughout Ireland. It is the only course that we offer, so we can concentrate on keeping it fresh and up to date each year. We are a "school that comes to our students". Avail of Higher Education in Interior Design in your area. We offer upcoming classes in Galway, Castlebar, Sligo, Drogheda and Dundalk. We simply locate a large, safe hotel with excellent conference facilities, and rent this for the school year.

The Diploma in Professional Interior Design course is a combination of lecture, hands-on practical work, and optional field trips. This is a 23 session course consisting of one night per week for 13 weeks in-class lecture/workshop, 6 special design projects to build a portfolio and 4 optional field trips to interior design-oriented venues. Class hours are from 7:30 PM to approximately 10:30 PM. (Some classes will go longer, some are shorter.)

Our curriculum covers not only the study and practice of interior design to a professional level, but how to promote and market yourself as an interior designer in a real-world environment.

Education/Training Mission Statement:

Our aim is to give adults living in rural areas:

- access to Diploma level education in interior design
- training to professional level
- the skills and confidence to open their own consulting businesses in the area

Up until the Connacht College of Design’s inception, students who cannot commute to larger cities such as Dublin and Cork would be unable to study interior design to professional level. The obvious reason for this is that it is not financially viable for a school to set up permanent premises in smaller towns as the population is not available for continuous yearly classes.

However, at the Connacht College of Design, we go to the students. Instead of renting expensive permanent premises in each town, we rent large conference rooms at the local hotel on a nightly basis for the course. We can then easily move to another geographical location for the next course. This enables us to go to smaller areas that would not be financially feasible for a larger school, and offer this educational opportunity to those unable to drive long distances to Dublin or Cork.

The Course Director and creator, Amanda Stuart-Heaney, has over twenty-five years experience teaching and working in Interior Design. Amanda received her training in interior design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. For 15 years she worked as a professional interior designer in the United States. She moved to Galway 15 years ago and has been teaching “Practical Interior Design” and “Interior Design on a Budget” workshops throughout the country.

Amanda has written two books on interior design, and her articles on the subject have appeared in several national newspapers and magazines in Ireland. She has been a guest on the Gerry Ryan Show, Clare FM, Tipperary Radio, Midland Radio, and RTE’s “Open House”.