First off, what operating system do you use?
IRC clients are available for free for almost every OS. Once you know that a free IRC client application is available for your specific OS, you can select one and download it through a metasite like
http://versiontracker.com and install it. Many of these applications are less than 15 megabytes, so the download should not be a deal breaker unless you have a really slow connection to the web.
Once you have the software installed, you'll open it and follow the directions to open an IRC channel. You'll select a user name first. Then you'll open a link to an IRC server. This is similar to opening a web page. Only you'll be accessing a series of linked servers that handle relay chat.
Example: irc.esper.net would be the server.
Then, depending on what channel I'd create, you would issue a simple command in the user prompt window to join a specific channel once you are on esper.net.
Example: /join #hipcomix
From there, you won't need to know more about the command structure and syntax of IRC to just chat.
Note that this channel is not open at the moment. But it can be created and registered once enough people show an interest.
One last detail. I'm on the west coast, so I'd only be available in your evenings from what you've posted on the subject.