I have tried IRC a few times in the past and just never managed to like it, never mind master it

As for getting into IRC, there's a little secret to it. I found I have to use the secure SSL IRC in order to login. You can do so with just about any ordinary IRC client. My recommendation is XChat, as it is available for just about any platform for my second favourite four letter "F" word, which is also my "favourite price"….. FREE

The server info you will need is as follows:
Server: irc.gaytor.rent
Port: 6697
Channel: #gaytor.rent

You can program XChat to automatically login as you if you reserve your IRC nick, as well as to automatically join the IRC channel directly on startup. If you require further assistance with it, I'd be more than happy to assist you.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, for users who are running Ubuntu or any Debian based Linux distro, you can use the apt repository to install XChat, instead of having to use a tar ball to install it. To do this, please use the following command

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install xchat

If using Ubuntu, this package is also available directly in the Ubuntu Software Centre just the same.