
Nicola Coughlan
Biography
Nicola Mary Coughlan is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles as Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls and Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton. She earned a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for playing the lead role of Penelope Featherington in the third season of Bridgerton. Coughlan earned a British Academy Television Awards nomination for her role as Maggie Donovan in Big Mood (2024–present). Coughlan was born on 9 January 1987 in Galway, Ireland, and grew up in Oranmore. The youngest of three siblings, her father served in the Irish Army before passing away in 2016, and her mother was a stay-at-home parent. At the age of five, while watching her sister perform in a school play, Coughlan decided she wanted to become an actress. She attended Scoil Mhuire Primary School and Calasanctius College. She graduated with a degree in English and Classical Civilisation from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She then went on to train in England at the Oxford School of Drama and Birmingham School of Acting.
TV Shows(21)

Saturday Night Live UK
Self - Cameo (uncredited)

Saturday Night Live UK
Self - Host

Big Mood
Maggie

Rob Beckett's Smart TV
Self - Guest

The Netflix Afterparty
Self

Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains
Guest

Taskmaster’s New Year Treat
Self

Bridgerton
Penelope Featherington

Bridgerton
Penelope Bridgerton

RuPaul's Drag Race UK
Self - Guest Judge

The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self

Derry Girls
Clare Devlin

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
Self

Harlots
Hannah Dalton

Movies with Ali Plumb
Self

Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest

Would I Lie to You?
Self

The Graham Norton Show
Self

The Fairytaler
voice