People are loving this Irish language short film based on 'Mean Girls'
Cailíní Gránna celebrates the vibrancy of the Irish language in such a fun way.

Never knew we needed this version.
The enduring appeal, relatable themes, and oh-so quotable lines of Mean Girls has not only made it a pop culture mainstay, but the inspiration for countless recreations—from musicals, to movie musicals (still pretty baffled by that) to hilarious skits. Still, even the most avid Internet consumer has probably never seen a Mean Girls parody quite like this one.
In honor of the iconic film’s upcoming 21st anniversary, as well as Seachtain na Gaeilge, the largest annual celebration of Ireland’s native language and culture, a drama company called Mumbro Top released a 10 minute short version of the movie, spoken entirely in Gaelic.
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Cailíní Gránna (Mean Girls in Irish) certainly achieves both those goals—paying tribute to Tina Fey’s sharp and witty comedy, while championing the Irish language. You especially see this in some of the added fresh touches, like incorporating St. Brigid’s Day, having the Plastics wear green Irish garb instead of Santa suits for the talent show, and (my personal favorite) swapping Gretchen Weiner’s infamous “fetch” for “coolah boolah.”
Even the end credits play out over a lovely Irish cover to Chappell Roan’s hit ‘Hot to Go!!’ (aka Mhac Go Deo).
Watch:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
Since its release, Cailíní Gránna has been met with glowing praise by viewers, many of whom gained a newfound appreciation for Gaelic because of it.
“Well... I'll never forget the irish word for ‘to die.’"
“I do not speak a hint of Irish and I'm not even from a place at all related to the country, nevertheless I watched all of this and it was great!!”
“help ‘an queercail cómhra’ is too good i'm definitely stealing that.”
“I don't speak a lick of gailge but this was so fun to watch & super well-made… I love how well you adapted gags from the original movie into an Irish context!!”
Gaelic (or Gaeilge) is one of the oldest and most historical languages in the world, dating back to as early as the 4th century. However, it was heavily suppressed during the English colonization of Ireland in the 1600s. In the 1800s and 1900s, there was a big revival movement, resulting in the establishment of Irish language schools, as well the creation of new literature, poetry and theatre trí Ghaeilge (through Irish).
Seachtain na Gaeilgem which translates to "Irish Language Week" was part of this movement. Back when it first began in 1902, it was indeed just a single week and limited to Ireland. However, over time it became a global event that couldn’t really be contained to a mere seven days, so festival organizers decided to extend the ‘seachtain’ to 17 days, but kept the original name due to its worldwide recognition.
Nowadays, Seachtain na Gaeilge (or ‘SnaG’, as it’s also known) is a truly global event, beginning on 1 March (St. David's Day) and running until St Patrick's Day on 17 March each year, with community-organized events including traditional céilís, concerts, quizzes, competitions, parades, history tours, lectures, and poetry nights intended to encourage the use of Gaelic.
Besides Cailíní Gránna, there have been a few recent pop culture moments that have also thrown Gaeling into the spotlight. Back 2023, two Irish-centric films, The Banshees of Inisherin and An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) received Oscar noms. That same year, Paul Mescal received a bualadh bos (round of applause) for using his cúpla focal (few words) of Irish in an interview on the red carpet.
@dublinsfm104 “Go out there and use your cúpla focail.” ☘️ Paul Mescal talk about speaking Irish 😍 #paulmescal #dublin #diff #fyp #irish #ireland #normalpeople #aftersun #godcreatures #irishfilm ♬ original sound - dublinsfm104
Point being, all these efforts to keep the mother tongue alive seem to be working, and that’s so coolah boolah.