Wake Me Up As Gaeilge: TG Lurgan's Avicii Cover In Irish

This is Wake Me Up as Gaeilge, Avicii’s hit sung in Irish by Stiofán Ó Fearail with students and staff at Coláiste Lurgan in Connemara. TG Lurgan posted it in August 2013. It passed a million YouTube views within a week and now has more than 8.8 million. Here’s the video and the story behind it.

I just love sharing these videos. Not only are the songs sung well but they are sung in Irish as well!

This Avicii Irish cover is the one that made TG Lurgan’s name. A summer college in Connemara took one of the biggest dance hits of 2013 and made it their own.

If you came for the Irish words, I’ll tell you where to find them below.

Here is TG Lurgan’s Wake Me Up as Gaeilge, as it went up on YouTube in August 2013.

Who sang Wake Me Up as Gaeilge?

TG Lurgan uploaded the video on 9 August 2013. They called it Avicii Vs Lurgan, Wake Me Up as Gaeilge.

The YouTube description credits Stiofán Ó Fearail on lead vocals, with the students and staff of Course C. No other singers are named, so I won’t guess.

The Irish Times reported in 2016 that Stiofán, who is from Roscommon, became fluent through repeated summers in the Gaeltacht, Coláiste Lurgan among them. He is now the singer and guitarist with the band Seo Linn.

A very long day’s filming

The Irish Times said the video was filmed at the college. The shoot ran from 7.30am until 3am the next morning.

The Irish Times added that students and staff make the videos on a voluntary, non-profit basis, with help from local professionals.

Lead singer and crowd in TG Lurgan's Irish-language cover of Avicii's Wake Me Up

A still from TG Lurgan’s 2013 video of Wake Me Up as Gaeilge

Where to find the Irish words

I’ve taken the lyrics off this page. The song belongs to its writers, and the Irish version belongs to TG Lurgan.

TG Lurgan lists the Irish words itself, in the description under the YouTube video. The track is also on Spotify as Lig Mé Saor. For the English original, Spotify and Apple Music both show licensed lyrics.

The original: Avicii and Aloe Blacc

Wake Me Up came out in June 2013. It was by Avicii, the Swedish DJ and producer, with Aloe Blacc singing.

Billboard credits the writing to Avicii, Aloe Blacc and Mike Einziger of Incubus. It mixed dance music with country and folk, an odd match on paper.

A hit everywhere

Then it took off. The Official Charts Company says it went straight in at No. 1 in the UK. It was the fastest-selling single of 2013 there.

In Ireland, RTÉ reported in July 2013 that it knocked Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines off the No. 1 spot. In the US it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Sadly, Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling, died in Muscat, Oman, on 20 April 2018. He was only 28. This little Irish version is one small part of his legacy.

What the Irish version does with the song

It doesn’t read as a word-for-word translation. Irish and English don’t line up neatly, and a straight translation would never fit the tune.

Instead it’s a singable adaptation that follows the original’s story. A young person is told to wait and play it safe, and decides to go their own way anyway, not knowing where the road ends.

The title changes too. Lig Mé Saor means something like “set me free” or “let me go”. It arguably suits the song’s restless mood better than a literal wake me up would.

Then there’s the video: a big crowd of teenagers singing and dancing, in a language many people only remember as a school subject.

How Wake Me Up as Gaeilge took off

On 16 August 2013, a week after it went up, Ryan Tubridy had Stiofán on RTÉ 2FM. The video had just passed a million views.

The Irish Times said it was the most hits ever for an Irish-language song on YouTube. That was in August 2013, so I won’t claim it still holds the record.

Avicii saw it

The Irish Examiner reported in August 2013 that Avicii shared the video online before a gig in Belfast. He said he couldn’t understand a word of it but loved it.

The Late Late Show

RTÉ later wrote that the cover was such a hit that the group performed on The Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy.

By February 2023, RTÉ said, Lig Mé Saor had over 8.5 million views. As of October 2026, YouTube shows more than 8.8 million.

TG Lurgan and what it did for Irish learners

TG Lurgan is the YouTube name of Coláiste Lurgan. It’s an Irish-language summer college in Indreabhán, in the Connemara Gaeltacht, west of Galway city.

The college’s own website gives its motto as Gaeilge gan Eagla, which means Irish without fear. It says its sole mission is promoting spoken Irish.

The Irish Times said the videos began in a wet summer in 2009, to keep students busy indoors. Wake Me Up was the one that broke through.

A run of covers

More followed. By mid 2014 RTÉ listed Get Lucky, The Cup Song, Blurred Lines and Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars.

They also did a lovely cover of Adele’s Hello, which I wrote about in Adele’s Hello as Gaeilge.

The Irish Times counted 24 million views across the college’s covers by late 2016.

Why it matters for the language

Mícheál Ó Foighil of Coláiste Lurgan made the point to the Irish Times. Tie the language to something enjoyable, he said, and the learning goes deeper.

He told RTÉ in 2023 that about 50,000 students had come through the college in 25 years.

This is by far one of the best ways we can keep the language alive. Seeing these kids having fun in a modern context is how we will be assured our language grows and continues.

Wake Me Up as Gaeilge: FAQ

Who sings Wake Me Up as Gaeilge?

Stiofán Ó Fearail, now of Seo Linn, sings lead, with students and staff from Coláiste Lurgan. It went up in August 2013.

What is Wake Me Up in Irish called?

Lig Mé Saor, which means roughly “set me free”. It’s the title on Spotify.

Where can I find the Irish lyrics to Wake Me Up?

TG Lurgan lists them in the description under its YouTube video.

Did Avicii see the Irish version?

Yes, according to the Irish Examiner. It reported in August 2013 that he shared it online and said he loved it.

What is TG Lurgan?

It’s the YouTube channel of Coláiste Lurgan, an Irish-language summer college in Indreabhán, Connemara. Its Irish pop covers began in 2009.

Wake Me Up as Gaeilge: The Story of TG Lurgan’s Avicii Cover