Who cares what Irish girls think?
Quite a few people, apparently.

Shite Irish Girls Say was launched on YouTube this week and has already scored over 300,000 views. The video became an instant hit on both Facebook and Twitter and was featured on IrishCentral.com, America’s Irish news network.

Studenty decided that it was high time we caught up with the lovely lady behind the video.

“I started vlogging as part of a job I had last year”, Clare Cullen explains.

“I only did three but I liked it so much that when I left that job, in July 2011, I started to vlog myself on my own channel. I had various videos up before that: I used to make videos with clips and photos of my friends for fun, but those were just for my friends to see. I had never thought of YouTube the way I use it now. I remember not even knowing there were subscribers.”

The qualified journalist decided that she needed to find her niche and with the guidance of her good friend James she set up her YouTube channel Dare Clare.

“I’ve always been very easily egged on to do things, and the idea came to me that maybe I could do dares. I searched YouTube and I couldn’t find any YouTuber whose primary ‘bit’ was doing dares. I was afraid it wouldn’t work, that nobody would send me dares, but James sent me the first one and I’ve been getting them ever since!”

So where did Shite Irish Girls Say come from?

“I have lived in Dublin for about five years now. I’ve also done a lot of travelling and I noticed I often had to explain my terminology to people when talking to them, in particular those from another country. Sometimes I even had to explain myself to my Dublin friends!”Clare says.

“I loved the whole series of ‘Shit Girls Say’ videos and I thought about what set me apart from all those other YouTubers and their videos: I was Irish.”

Getting the right sayings was key to the success of the video and Clare took time to make sure the lines were decent.

“I sat down and wrote down all the Irish colloquialisms I could think of on my phone. Most are universal, like the ‘thanks, Penneys!’ and some are native to where I’m from, like ‘chronic’ and ‘hardly’, but they are all phrases that I would argue are individual to the Irish nation.”

While the “no tax’ line has proven the most popular with viewers, Clare’s personal favourites are “’I’ve no credit call me back” and “Can I have a half pint of Guinness with a dash of blackcurrant?”.

“It’s based on one of my best friends signature drink, and it is quite possibly the most Irish drink ordered in the girliest way, which I think is very funny” she says.

Clare never expected the video to become a hit.

“I am over the moon! It’s beyond my wildest dreams. I love making videos and I really put a lot of time and effort into them so it feels so good to see people enjoying them! I’m loving reading all the comments and tweets.”

The aspiring journalist was particularly delighted to discover that #shiteirishgirlssay had trended on Twitter. “That was one thing on the bucket list I realistically thought would never happen.”

She puts the success of the video down to the truth of the content.

“I think a lot of people see either themselves or someone they know in it. Even though it is probably more country girls, the Dublin girls see their friends and family in it. Also it’s quite lighthearted and done in good spirits. And last but not least, the Irish are great for slagging each other and laughing at ourselves and everyone has taken it in that spirit!”

Cullen is keeping tight lipped about her next project.

And as for the car: it’s fully taxed.

Originally posted at Studenty.me on January 13th 2012