9 popular Irish comedians

Do you enjoy a good laugh while watching stand-up and comedy shows? Check these Irish comedians who are especially good at bringing laughter to our lives!

Dylan Moran

Dylan Moran is a writer and actor, which makes him an exceptionally talented comedian – he knows how to write a perfect script and perform it on stage. At Edinburgh Fringe Festival, he was the second youngest person to win the prestigious Perrier Award at the age of 24. In 2010, Moran released a DVD compilation of his previous shows Monster Live, Like Totally, and What It Is, which touched upon the topics of relationships, kids, ageing, and life. Later on, he went on tours with other comedy shows and even performed in such places as Scandinavia, Baltic countries, Russia, and South Africa.

Graham Norton

There’s no way you haven’t seen The Graham Norton Show. Though the show and its host are based in the UK, Graham Norton was born in Dublin and is Irish. He even went to University College, Cork, but didn’t finish his studies; only afterwards, in 2013, he was given an honorary doctorate. Before The Graham Norton Show, there were many other shows Norton hosted on TV, such as So Graham Norton or Graham Norton’s Bigger Picture.

Des Bishop

Des Bishop is an Irish-American comedian. He was born in London and brought up in New York. At the age of 16, he came to Wexford for his studies, and he’s been living in Ireland since then. His career as a comedian started in the late 1990s. One of Bishop’s favourite topics to joke about is the Irish, their habits, and other peculiarities that he noticed when he came to Ireland. In his performances, Bishop uses his acting skill to add another dimension to his show, and it makes us laugh even more.

Maeve Higgins

Maeve Higgins comes from Cobh, County Cork but is based in New York. Her career started in 2005 when she took part in different comedy shows, including Naked Camera and her own show called Maeve Higgins’ Fancy Vittles. In 2018, she wrote a book called Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl from Somewhere Else.

P.J. Gallagher

Gallagher was born in Dublin and graduated from St. Paul’s College, Raheny. He worked on the TV show Naked Camera with Maeve Higgins and embodied various funny characters, from a mentally unstable taxi driver to an old woman, “Dirty Auld One”.

Dara Ó Briain

Born in Bray, County Wicklow, Dara Ó Briain started as a children’s TV representer at RTÉ. At the same time, he had his first stand-up performances on the comedy circuit. Those were in small rooms and to very small audiences, but he learned that way. He became more popular and performed tours across North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Ó Briain studied mathematics and theoretical physics in college, so he admits to being a science geek and even performed stand-up monologues about modern technologies.

Ed Byrne

Ed Byrne is a friend of Dara Ó Briain’s; each of them was the best man at the other’s wedding! Byrne was born in Dublin but went to a university in Scotland. While he was at university, he became interested in comedy, so he quit his studies and went to London to start his career as a comedian. Since then, he’s become popular on TV in Ireland and the UK. Ed Byrne likes to joke about the things you can see in everyday life, and he’s also ironic about himself and his appearance.

Tara Flynn

Tara Flynn is not a stand-up comedian; she uses comedy and satire in her activist work and YouTube sketches to discuss serious issues like feminism and politics. She also wrote three satirical books – You’re Grand: The Irishwoman’s Secret Guide to Life, Giving Out Yards: The Art of Complaint, Irish Style, and Rage-In: Trolls and Tribulations of Modern Life. Tara Flynn also created a podcast called Taranoia where she talked about battling her own fears and insecurities.

Foil Arms and Hog

Foil Arms and Hog is another popular comedian group – in fact, three comedians, Sean Finegan (Foil), Conor McKenna (Arms), and Sean Flanagan (Hog). They met in the drama society at University College Dublin and created their own YouTube channel in 2008. They started to film sketches on universal themes and also some that are mostly relatable for Irish people, such as “When Irish People Can’t Speak Irish” and “How to Speak Dublin”. Foil Arms and Hog hit 84 million views in May 2020. After they gained popularity online, they’ve been also performing on TV, radio, and on stage.

A good laugh is what we all need during these turbulent times, and we hope you’ll check the Irish comedians we told you about! Or maybe you already have a favourite Irish comedian?