Emma Doran: Emmaculate at VISUAL Carlow

What to Expect

Emma Doran plays the George Bernard Shaw Theatre on Thursday 1 October 2026 with Emmaculate, a new hour built on the trials of her blended family. The venue describes the show as razor sharp observation mixed with riotous on stage antics and conspiratorial gossipmongering, which is a fair summary of Doran’s method: domestic detail delivered like a confidence shared across a kitchen table. Family life, and the gap between how it is supposed to look and how it actually runs, is the spine of the set.

Doran is one of the more visible Irish stand-ups of the last few years, with television appearances on RTE, Prime Video and Sky, and she co-hosts the podcast Keep It Tight with Deirdre O’Kane. Her 2024 book Mad, Isn’t It? was a bestseller. Reviews quoted by the venue call the show end to end laughs and wickedly funny, and Joanne McNally describes her as one of the funniest humans she has ever encountered. Tickets are €30 including the booking fee and the show carries a 14+ age rating. Note the earlier than usual 7:30 PM start.

Good to Know

• Thursday 1 October 2026, 7:30 PM. Earlier start than most shows at this venue.
• Venue: George Bernard Shaw Theatre at VISUAL, Old Dublin Road, Carlow.
• Price: €30 including booking fee. Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• Age rating 14+.
• Book online through Ticketsolve, in person, or by phone on 059 917 2400.
• Wheelchair users and groups of more than eight should book directly with the box office at boxoffice@visualcarlow.ie.

Getting There

VISUAL is on the Old Dublin Road on the eastern edge of Carlow town, on the grounds beside Carlow College. From Dublin the M9 takes about an hour, and the N80 connects the town to Wexford and the midlands. There is street parking around Old Dublin Road with the town centre car parks a short walk away. Carlow railway station on Railway Road is on the Dublin Heuston to Waterford line, roughly 15 minutes on foot, and Bus Eireann services run in from Kilkenny, Waterford and Dublin.