The Nualas were an Irish

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

trio known for performing spoof songs. The group — with characters named Nuala, Nuala and Nuala— was founded by Anne Gildea, Sue Collins and

Tara Flynn Tara Flynn (born 1969) is an Irish actress and writer. She was a member of The Nualas. Career Flynn has written three satirical books: ''You're Grand: The Irishwoman's Secret Guide to Life'', ''Giving Out Yards: The Art of Complaint, Irish Styl ...

in 1995. Flynn was replaced at several points since 2002 by Susanna de Wrixon, Karen Egan, Maria Tecce, and Josephine O'Reilly. Performing predominantly in the UK and Ireland, including the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 2001 and 2014, they also performed in New York and the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, or Oxfam Gala, is a comedy show run annually as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Billed as Australian comedy's 'night of nights', it is held one week before the festival opens, ...

. The group last performed in 2018. In 1998, they produced a series for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

featuring

Paul Tylak Paul Tylak is an Irish writer, actor and comedian. Personal life Paul Tylak was born to an Irish mother and Sri Lankan father, and grew up between Ireland and England. He attended the now closed De Burgh School in Tadworth, Surrey. He has li ...

and a Christmas special. In 2015, they created a song, "Yes 2 Love", promoting a 'yes' vote in the Irish marriage equality referendum.

Members

Anne Gildea

Anne Gildea is an Irish writer and comedian. Anne's brother is Kevin Gildea, known for his work at the

International Comedy Cellar The Dublin Comedy Cellar is Ireland's oldest comedy club located on Dublin's South Wicklow Street in the International Bar. The Cellar was founded in 1988 by 'Mr. Trellis' members Irish comedians Ardal O'Hanlon, Barry Murphy and Kevin Gildea. ...

. She was a co-star on '' Gerry Ryan Tonight''. She is a survivor of breast cancer. She has a show called "How to get the Menopause and enjoy it". In 2024, she joined podcaster Dr. Louise Newson on the ''Hormones and Menopause: The Great Debate'' tour.

Sue Collins

Sue Collins is an Irish actress known for parts in ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster RTE, it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several awards and is both the most po ...

'' and '' Raw''. Since 2016, she has performed with

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

stand-up Sinead Culbert as the ''DirtBirds'' writing, sketch comedy and podcasting duo. She is married to actor

Phelim Drew Phelim Drew (born 1969) is an Irish actor. His credits include '' My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown'' (1989), '' Into the West'' (1992), ''Sharpe's Battle'' (1995), '' The Nephew'' (1998), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' Bloom'' (2003), ''K ...

, with whom she has four children.

Tara Flynn

Tara Flynn is an Irish writer, actress and broadcaster.

Critical reception

David Benedict of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described the group in 1999 as "daffy" with a "ludicrously varied musical style", attributing their success to "a cunning mixture of sternness and silliness".

Ian Shuttleworth Terence Ian Shuttleworth (born 6 July 1963 in Belfast, UK) is a retired Northern Irish theatre critic and author. He was one of the senior theatre critics for the ''Financial Times'' from May 2007 to March 2019, and editor and publisher of '' Th ...

of '' The FT'', in 2000, described their turn of phrase as "gloriously daft", but that their material suited a "large club" rather than a "medium-sized theatre", but that the signs were there for bigger things.

Lawrence Van Gelder Lawrence Ralph Van Gelder (February 17, 1933 – March 11, 2016) was an American journalist and instructor in journalism who worked at several different New York City-based newspapers in his long career. Until 2010, he was senior editor of the Ar ...

, writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 2001, declared that "New Yorkers in need of laughter can be happy that the Nualas are here" and that, despite their tastelessness, their "wackily original songbook" was a sign of their "undeniable overall talent".

Shows

* ''Hello, We're the Nualas'' – 1997 * ''Big Shiny Dress'' – 1999 * ''Older Wiser, and Heftier'' – 2011 * ''Glitterbomb'' – 2016 * ''Lock Up Your Husbands!'' – 2015 * ''One Night of Dignity'' – 2012 * ''Hello Again - We're the Nualas'' – 2014

Discography

* ''Live & Available'' - 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nualas, The Irish comedy musicians Comedy musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 Irish comedy troupes Musical groups disestablished in 2018 BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes Irish parodists Parody musicians 1990s in Irish music 2000s in Irish music 2010s in Irish music Irish all-female bands