This is TG Lurgan’s “I Don’t Care” as Gaeilge, an Irish-language cover of Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s hit by the YouTube project of a summer college in Connemara. It went up in July 2019, credited to Emma Stacey, Aindriú Sullivan and Cúrsa A. Below you’ll find the video, the story of the original hit, Ed’s Irish links and what the Irish version is about.
In the summer of 2019, TG Lurgan was back with another epic song as Gaeilge (in Irish). This time it was “I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber.
It seems their videos are only getting better. I really enjoyed the video production on this one.
Here’s TG Lurgan’s “I Don’t Care” as Gaeilge, so turn it up.
I Don’t Care as Gaeilge: about the cover
TG Lurgan uploaded the video on 30 June 2019, Pacific time. In Ireland it was already 1 July.
The YouTube description credits Emma Stacey, Aindriú Sullivan and Cúrsa A 2019. Cúrsa is simply Irish for course. I haven’t found anything more about the two singers, so I won’t guess.
On Spotify the track is called “Tá Muid Saor”, credited to TG Lurgan. It sits on a 2019 release called Lurgan 2k19 Cuid1.
The cover landed a few weeks before Ed’s album, No.6 Collaborations Project, reached the charts that July.
How many people watched it?
This one is no “Wake Me Up” in numbers. At the start of October 2026, YouTube showed about 58,000 views.
I haven’t seen any newspaper coverage of it either, or any sign that Ed or Justin saw it. If they did, they kept it quiet.
I Don’t Care as Gaeilge, TG Lurgan’s 2019 cover
What the Irish words are about
When I first posted this, I printed the Irish lyrics and my spell check nearly exploded. These days I’ll leave the words to TG Lurgan.
Their YouTube description has the full Irish lyrics. You can read them under the video on YouTube.
The Irish version isn’t a word-for-word translation. It’s a new set of words written to the same tune.
The English song is about hating parties and crowds, but not minding any of it once your person is beside you.
The Irish version keeps the love song but leans towards freedom. The chorus is about feeling free when you’re with the one you love. That fits the Irish title the track carries on Spotify.
Elsewhere the singer talks about being “faoi do gheasa”, under your spell. In the old Irish tales, a geis was a sacred bond or taboo that heroes broke at their peril.
So if you came looking for a song about not caring, the Irish version cares quite a lot.
How do you say “I don’t care” in Irish?
The usual way is “is cuma liom”. Literally, it means it’s all the same to me.
Foclóir.ie, the English-Irish dictionary from Foras na Gaeilge, uses it in examples like “is cuma liom cé a bhuafaidh”. That’s I don’t care who wins.
For more everyday phrases, try my list of Irish greetings.
The original: Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s 2019 hit
“I Don’t Care” came out on Friday 10 May 2019. It was the first taste of Ed’s No.6 Collaborations Project.
The charts
- America: Billboard reported that it debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” kept it off the top, in its seventh week at No. 1.
- Britain: The Official Charts Company counted 4.7 million streams over its first weekend. It became Ed’s sixth UK Number 1 and stayed there for eight weeks.
- Ireland: It held Number 1 on the Official Irish Singles Chart from mid-May to late June 2019. “Señorita” finally knocked it off.
Official Charts said No.6 Collaborations Project was the fastest-selling album of 2019 so far in the UK, with 125,000 first-week sales. It was also Ed’s fourth Number 1 album in Ireland.
Ed Sheeran’s Irish links
Ed has stronger Irish links than most English pop stars. The Irish Times says his grandparents lived in Wexford. His song “Nancy Mulligan” tells how they married across the Catholic and Protestant divide.
RTÉ notes his “Photograph” video includes home footage of him busking in Galway as a teenager. He told the Irish Times, “I grew up on Planxty and The Chieftains.”
Then came “Galway Girl”, which went to Number 1 on the Official Irish Singles Chart in March 2017. A group of Galway girls even Irish danced to his Shape of You.
TG Lurgan and the Irish language revival
TG Lurgan is the YouTube name of Coláiste Lurgan, an Irish-language summer college. It’s in Indreabhán, in the Connemara Gaeltacht in Co. Galway.
The Irish Times reported in 2013 that Pól Ó Foighil founded the college in the late 1960s. His son, Mícheál Ó Foighil, has run it since 1996.
How the videos started
The videos began in a rainy summer in 2009, the Irish Times said. Students and staff make them, working entirely through Irish.
Mícheál told the paper the aim is to move students from learning Irish to actually using it, and that it comes down to confidence.
That’s the whole point. Plenty of Irish people learned the language all through school and still freeze when asked to use it.
What it has added up to
- By December 2016, the Irish Times counted 24 million views across the college’s covers.
- In 2023, RTÉ reported about 50,000 students had passed through in 25 years. Their “Wake Me Up” cover had passed 8.5 million views.
- RTÉ also reported €10 million from the Department of the Gaeltacht for a new centre. RTÉ said in 2023 it was due for completion in 2026. I haven’t seen confirmation it’s finished yet.
- Since Covid, RTÉ reports, TG Lurgan has worked with Wales’s Urdd Gobaith Cymru on joint Irish and Welsh projects.
If you enjoy this one, their Adele’s Hello as Gaeilge is my personal favourite.
I Don’t Care as Gaeilge: FAQ
Who sings I Don’t Care as Gaeilge?
TG Lurgan, the YouTube project of Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara. The video credits Emma Stacey, Aindriú Sullivan and Cúrsa A 2019.
Where can I find the Irish lyrics to TG Lurgan’s I Don’t Care?
In the description under the video on TG Lurgan’s YouTube channel. The audio is on Spotify as “Tá Muid Saor”.
How do you say “I don’t care” in Irish?
The usual phrase is “is cuma liom”, which literally means it’s all the same to me. Foclóir.ie uses it this way.
Is the Irish version a direct translation of the English song?
No. It’s a new set of Irish words written to the same tune, and it leans more towards feeling free with someone you love.
What is TG Lurgan?
It’s the YouTube channel of Coláiste Lurgan, an Irish-language summer college in Indreabhán, Co. Galway. Students and staff have made covers in Irish since 2009.
More Irish reading
- Adele’s Hello sung in Irish by TG Lurgan
- Galway girls Irish dance to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You
- Irish greetings and how to say them
- Irish slang words
- English words that come from Irish
- Irish sayings
Cheers,
Stephen
Featured photo: Twelve Bens, Connemara, Ireland by Lindy Buckley, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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