Danielle Galligan

Danielle Galligan (born 1 December 1992) is an Irish actress and theatre maker. On television, she is known for her roles in the Netflix series Shadow and Bone (2021–2023) and House of Guinness, and the RTÉ series Obituary (2023) and The Walsh Sisters (2025). Her films include Lakelands (2022).

Early life and education Galligan is from Rathfarnham, a suburb in South Dublin. Her mother Lorraine is a beauty therapist who runs a salon and beauty school.

Galligan attended Loreto High School Beaufort. She was a member of Ann Kavanagh's Young People's Theatre from 2005 to 2011 and was awarded the Ena Burke bursary for the Betty Ann Norton Theatre School. She then studied Drama and Theatre studies at Trinity College Dublin and trained in Acting at The Lir Academy, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2015.

Career Theatre After graduating from The Lir, Galligan began her career in stage productions such as The Train with Rough Magic. In 2017, she was in All Honey and played the titular role in The Grimm Tale of Cinderella.

In 2018, Galligan played the lead opposite Tom Moran in his play Lyrics and Cinnamon in We Can’t Have Monkeys in the House at the New Theatre. She reprised the latter role at the 2019 Young Curators Festival. She featured as the singer in Gavin Kostick's 12 Christmas Poems that December.

Theatre making Galligan had a FUEL theatre making residency and workshop alongside Fionnuala Gygax and Ailish Leavy for Hostel 16 at the Druid Theatre.

In 2018, she co-founded Chaos Factory, an experimental theatre company alongside Gygax, Venetia Bowe, and Rachel Bergin. They debuted with a production titled Kiss Kiss Slap, which featured in the 2018 Dublin Fringe Festival. Their second project, MorphMe, premiered in April 2019.

That same year, Galligan began working as an actor-deviser for Murmuration, which debuted with Summertime starring her and Finbarr Doyle. The show featured at the 2018 Dublin Fringe Festival, where the pair were shortlisted for Best Duo, as well as the 2019 Drogheda Arts Festival and Abbey Theatre Young Curators Festival.

She was the dramaturg for Aisling O'Mara's Nothing But A Toerag in January 2019.

Galligan participated in a podcast with RISE Productions in which she, Gavin Kostick, Éanna Hardwicke, and Janet Moran performed Kostick's modern version of Homer's Odyssey. Galligan and Kostick, having worked on the project since 2017, co-created and performed in Gym Swim Party, a choreography production inspired by his take on the epic in association with O'Reilly Theatre. The production featured in the 2019 Dublin Fringe Festival.

Television and film In her early career, Galligan featured in short films such as Strangers in the Park, Pernicio, Beautiful Youth, and Break Us. She won best actress at the Short+Sweet Film Festival and best duo alongside Mark Lawrence at the 6 on Nebraska Film Festival for Strangers in the Park, which she co-wrote. She received nominations from the Richard Harris Film Festival and the Underground Cinema Festival for her role in Pernicio. She landed her first major television role as Nina Zenik in the Netflix series Shadow and Bone, an adaptation of fantasy book series The Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo, which premiered in 2021. A recurring character in season 1, Galligan was promoted to series regular for season 2, Galligan made her feature film debut as Naomi in Who We Love, a remake of the 2016 short film Lily.

Galligan would then reunite with Éanna Hardwicke for the film Lakelands; they jointly won the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at the Galway Film Fleadh and both received IFTA nominations. Galligan also appeared in the RTÉ crime drama Kin as Molly and the television film Every Five Miles. In 2023, she had a main role as Mallory Markum in the dark comedy series Obituary with Siobhán Cullen, which was released on RTÉ in Ireland and Hulu in the US. For her performance, Galligan received an IFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Other media Galligan has participated in RTÉ radio dramas such as The Playboy of the Western World and Hecuba by Marina Carr. She also stars in the audible original vampire-apocalypse audio drama Impact Winter: Season 2 by Travis Beacham alongside a full cast.

Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 2021 Who We Love Naomi 2022 Lakelands Grace 2024 Split Milk Maura O'Brien TBA A Rare Breed Erin TBA Landlines TBA Filming

Television Year Title Role Notes 2015 Tinderface Caitlyn Episode: "Killian & Caitlyn"2019 Game of Thrones Sarra Episode: "The Last of the Starks" Krypton Enaj 2 episodes 2020 Cold Courage Daiga Mednis 3 episodes 2021 The Great Yula 3 episodes2021–2023 Shadow and Bone Nina Zenik Recurring role (Season 1)Main role (Season 2) Kin Molly (Pharmacist) Recurring role (Season 1)Main role (Season 2) 2022 Every Five Miles Saoirse Kennedy Television film 2023 Obituary Mallory Markum 6 episodes 2025 House of Guinness Lady Olivia Hedges 2025 The Walsh Sisters Claire Walsh

Stage

Audio Year Title Role Notes 2016 The Playboy of the Western World Susan Brady RTÉ Drama 2018 Hecuba Polyxena RTÉ Drama 2019 The Odyssey: A New Version Various roles Irish Theatre Podcast 2023 Impact Winter: Season 2 Audible Original

Music video appearances Song Year Artist Notes "You and Me" 2017 DAVIIS "Can You Feel It" 2018 Yellow Season "Last to Leave" 2023 Ailbhe Reddy

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref.2018 Richard Harris Film Festival Best ActressPernicio Underground Cinema Festival Best Actress Dublin Fringe Festival Judge's Choice: Best Duo Summertime 2019 Short+Sweet Film Festival Best ActressStrangers in the Park 6 on Nebraska Film Festival Best Acting Duo 2022 Galway Film Fleadh Bingham Ray New Talent AwardLakelands 2023 Irish Film & Television Awards Lead Actress – Film 2024 Irish Film & Television Awards Supporting Actress – Drama Obituary