You appear to be confusing UK Freeview (broadcast tv, like our Saorview as mentioned above) with FreeSat (received from satellite via a dish). The Freeview tuner inside your tv would be the former. If it's a UK tv, chances are it will not be able to receive Saorview - it depends on whether the tuner is MPEG2 (UK format) or MPEG4 (Irish format). Your manual should state which it is, or if you bought it recently in an Irish shop, it should be MPEG4. You could connect it to an aerial, even some cheap rabbit's ears, and try digital tuning. If it's MPEG2 you'll get sound but no picture.
For receiving the actual UK broadcast, you'd need to be within range of one of their transmitters, eg in the border area.
For FreeSat, the tuner is irrelevant, you'd need a dish and a settop box.