Irish star Nicola Coughlan takes us on a tour of her hometown of Galway in Netflix special

Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan has paid a glowing tribute to the beautiful city of Galway in her new Netflix special.

Coughlan is fast becoming one of Ireland’s most loved actresses thanks to her starring roles in critically acclaimed series such as Derry Girls and Bridgerton.

Despite her Northern Irish brogue in Derry girls, she is actually from Galway and has paid homage to her hometown in a video diary.

Coughlan even joked that she was the inspiration for Ed Sheeran’s popular 2017 song Galway Girl.

She said: “I’m definitely a Galway girl. I sometimes lie and tell people that Ed Sheeran wrote that song about me.

“Sometimes they believe me, and it gets really awkward!”

The special is called ‘Made in Ireland’ and is just eight minutes long.

While the special only has a brief running time, it manages to include several examples of what makes Galway such a special place – as well as giving viewers a glimpse into Coughlan’s past.

She said: “The city always feels abuzz with creativity. You can’t walk down Shop Street or Quay Street without seeing lots and lots of musicians playing and things happening.

“It’s colourful and it just feels alive.”

Elsewhere in the video, Coughlan speaks about her career so far, from getting her big break in Derry Girls, to starring alongside Julie Andrews in Bridgerton.

We also get an insight into the attention to detail that goes into her preparation for playing a new character.

When Coughlan went back to her primary school she discovered that they had put her on the ‘dream board’ the next generation of pupils to be inspired by – as the world famous actress that had attended their school.

Coughlan also introduces viewers to her best friend and takes us to her old university and Coole Park in Galway

Take a look at the video below.

Coughlan is probably still best known as the panicky teenager Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the early 1990s. It’s a part that shows her command of Irish accents.

She had to be able to do a Derry accent to get the part but she’d never been to the city and had little to work on. So when she went to the audition, she copied a well known clip of Derry singer Nadine Coyle, auditioning to get into the pop group, Girls Aloud.

Coyle was too too young at the time and so was a little untruthful about her age. Coughlan used this infamous clip to show how easily she could nail the Derry accent. See for yourself in this video from the Late Late Show

And here’s a sample of her at her best in Derry Girls.

By way of contrast and to show her versatility, Coughlan adopts and upper class English accent for her part in Bridgerton.

It hasn’t always been easy for Coughlan. Once she became well known she was subjected to some hurtful insults about her weight. Derry Girls actress hits back at ‘unflattering dress’ jibe

Embarrassed ‘Galway Girl’ reveals story behind Ed Sheeran’s song

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