So far, this book has examined British writer/performers in relation to class, gender, race and regionality. This chapter will therefore acknowledge the importance of Irish authors to the current comedy landscape. Shilpa Ganatra argues that there is a ‘a new wave of Irish women playing a central role in TV comedy’ (2018), and Sharon Horgan in particular has gained significant attention from critics and audiences for her televisual output. However, she shares more in common with comics such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Julia Davis for her caustic and wry humour. As Horgan herself puts it, she has made a career of portraying woman who are a ‘bit messy’ (Horgan, quoted in Harrison, 2019). Examining her body of work from the 2010s – Pulling, Motherland, Catastrophe, Shining Vale and Bad Sisters – I specifically look at how she has used comedy as a vehicle to explore the stages of life: from ‘messy’ young women in their twenties; to mothers in their thirties and forties ‘behaving badly’; and women in their forties or older who are filing for divorce or are otherwise in failed marriages. These characters are ‘unruly’ in their funny and filthy behaviour.

While this chapter looks at the textual depiction of these women, it also explores Horgan's roles as an Irish showrunner, writer, (executive) producer and performer – exploring in detail why she has been coined ‘the busiest woman in British television’ (Harrison, 2019). It examines Horgan as a transnational writer and comedian, specifically the relationship between her Irish roots, London-centric series and recent American comedy, to analyse how women in TV comedy navigate the broader televisual landscape. Though both writing and portraying ‘unruly’ women who struggle with modern womanhood and motherhood, Horgan's multiple roles showcase how women's television work functions as a form of intense labour.