Louisa Clare Harland (born 1993 or 1994) is an Irish actor. She is known for her roles as Orla McCool in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls (2018–2022), as Nell Jackson in the Disney+ series Renegade Nell (2024), and as Anna Walsh in the RTÉ series The Walsh Sisters (2025).
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Early life and education
Louisa Clare Harland was born in 1993 or 1994. She grew up in Dundrum, Dublin, and has two older sisters, Katie and Ellie.
She was part of the Ann Kavanagh Youth Theatre in Rathfarnham, and later trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
Career
Television and film
Upon graduation, Harland landed a recurring role as Kayleigh in season two of the RTÉ One series Love/Hate in 2011. She later appeared in films Rob Burke's Standby (2014) and Woody Harrelson's Lost in London (2017).
In 2017, it was announced Harland had been cast as Orla McCool, the eccentric cousin of Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls. The first series aired in January 2018, receiving critical and commercial acclaim, and the second in March 2019. A final third series, as well as a special, aired in 2022.
On 26 June 2020, Harland and her fellow Derry Girls costars performed a sketch with Saoirse Ronan for the RTÉ fundraising special RTÉ Does Comic Relief, with proceeds from the night going towards those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. That same year, Harland appeared in the film Boys from County Hell.
Harland plays the lead role of Nell Jackson in the 2024 Disney+ series Renegade Nell.
Radio
In March 2021, Harland performed with Sam Otto in an adaptation of the play Endless Second, by Theo Toksvig-Stewart, for BBC Radio 4. That May, she performed in an adaptation of the debut novel Snowflake, by Louise Nealon, for BBC Radio 4. In February 2026 she appeared as Louisa May Alcott in an adaptation of her short story Transcendental Wild Oats for BBC Radio 4.
Personal life
As of 2023, Harland was in a relationship with English actor Calvin Demba.
As of March 2024 she was living in Ladbroke Grove, London.