Tributes have been paid after Moya Brennan, lead singer of acclaimed Irish folk group Clannad, passed away aged 73.
Nicknamed the “first lady of Celtic music”, she served as the band’s lead vocalist for over five decades and collaborated with the likes of The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant, The Pogues‘ Shane MacGowan and U2 frontman Bono.
Known for her haunting sound and resilient defence of Irish Gaelic, her first language, Brennan’s decorated career included wins at the Grammy’s, Emmy’s and BAFTA’s.
She co-founded Clannad with her family in 1980, first performing in their local pub. The band is credited with helping to take Irish music global, combining traditional folk instrumentation with contemporary pop sounds influenced by bands like The Beatles and Mamas & The Papas.
The band worked extensively in TV and film, producing music for shows like Harry’s Game and Robin Of Sherwood. Their sound was so influential on James Horner, the composer for Titanic, that the film’s Oscar-award-winning soundtrack is often mistakenly attributed to them.
Enya, Brennan’s younger sister, is the best-selling Irish solo artist of all time and a former Clannad member, leaving the group in 1982 to pursue a solo career. Brennan’s family shared the news in a brief statement, confirming Brennan had died peacefully and surrounded by her loved ones in her home county of Donegal on Monday 13 April.
Tributes soon poured in for the influential singer, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis – a degenerative lung disease – in 2020. In a statement shared to Clannad’s social media account, her brothers Pól and Ciarán wrote: “We are completely heartbroken at the passing of our dearest sister Máire (Moya)… Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad and will live on forever.”
They continued: “We are completely heartbroken at the passing of our dearest sister Máire (Moya). She crossed over last night at home in Donegal surrounded by family and has now joined Pádraig & Noel across the veil
“Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad and will live on forever. Pól agus Ciarán.”
Bono, speaking on behalf of U2 to the Irish Independent, said: “She sang like an angel. She walked through this world like an angel, and now she’s back with her own kind. We love you Moya.” He had previously said that she had “one of the greatest voices the human ear has ever experienced.”
Una Healy, of The Saturdays, said that she was “deeply saddened to hear of the loss of the wonderful Moya Brennan, Ireland’s first lady of Celtic music.
“I had the great pleasure of meeting and singing with Moya on a number of occasions,” Healy continued. “She was such a beautiful person and a legend.”
Fiachna Ó Braonáin, a guitarist and vocalist in the Irish folk rock band Hothouse Flowers, spoke to Morning Ireland to describe the “absolute privilege to be in her world”.
“She made you feel like family,” said Ó Braonáin, adding further condolences on Instagram by writing “the heavens will be blessed by her voice.”
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, fiddler and lead singer of Altan, remembered her as “such a beautiful, generous, lovely human being… the voice of an angel” on the same radio show.
“She paved the way for people like myself to come along… She was my hero growing up.
“The amount of people who have gotten interested in the Irish language because of her voice; her unique, delicate voice. She also had this delicacy in her as a person. She was uasal [noble] but she was also so strong. She knew her courage, she knew her business, she knew how to go about things. What a wonderful person. We will miss her so much.”
Daniel O’Donnell, an Irish singer and TV show host, spoke to Newstalk FM’s breakfast show and to remember her as: “a nice person… She was rooted in the earth. She was such a peaceful individual to be around. She had a such a beautiful aura around her. Such a sad, sad day for everybody.”
He continued: “The success of Clannad was unparalleled… they brought Irish songs and the Irish language and made them commonplace all over the world.”
Among those outside the music world to have offered condolences are Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin, who said he was “deeply saddened” and praised her for having “brought Irish folk music to the international stage.”
Brennan is survived by her husband, Tim Jarvis, their two children, and her siblings – including her sister, the Irish singer and former bandmate Enya.
Clannad have released 13 albums to date, their last being ‘Nádúr’ in 2013, while continuing to tour until 2024. Brennan’s final solo work of her celebrated career away from the band was 2024’s ‘Voices & Harps IV’ with Cormac de Barra.
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