“Even if you give an ape a ring, it’ll remain an ugly thing.” -Netherlands.

Probably the closest in Irish is “is deacair olann a bhaint de ghabhar” (it’s hard to get wool from a goat)

If I understand the original idiom, the nearest French expression would be “you can’t make a race horse from a donkey” (“tu ne peux pas faire un cheval de course d’un âne”).

“You can’t put lipstick on a pig” was popular for about a year in the US, circa 2007

You can’t paint the Mona Lisa with crayons.

Kind of related to yours, “You’re putting lipstick on a pig”