Otherworldly yet visceral, wraithlike yet dynamic, Moya Brennan’s exceptional voice left an indelible mark on world music. Her untimely death, at the age of 73, has come as a shock to all who followed her and her band, Clannad, over the decades, as well as those who came to her through her fine body of solo work and many collaborations.
Brennan was the eldest in a music-steeped family of nine who grew up in the Co Donegal village of Meenaleck, tucked between Mount Errigal and the Atlantic. Her father opened a pub, Leo’s Tavern, that was a magnet for musicians and singers who travelled from near and far.
Brennan’s grandmother had played the drums, her grandfather the piano, her uncle the trumpet and her aunt the accordion. Small wonder that it was the sublime harmony singing and stellar musicianship of the Brennans – locally, the Uí Bhraonáin – that drew so many music lovers to hear them perform as teenagers in their father’s bar.
Brennan played the harp and sang in the company of her brothers, Pól and Ciarán, her younger sister Eithne (known as Enya) and her twin uncles, Noel and Pádraig Duggan. Their home was filled with music of all kinds, not just traditional music. They made no distinction between Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers and Seán Ó Riada: all were embraced and their essence mined subconsciously, with the family evolving their own distinctive sound.
READ MORE
The family won Letterkenny Folk Festival in 1973, an accolade that brought with it a record contract. It was the spur that led them to form a band named, fittingly, Clannad (from Clann as Dobhair, or Family from Dore).
They cut their musical teeth on the road, performing first in schools. In 1973, they performed An Pháirc, a Mick Hanly song, on the National Song Contest. Eithne Ní Bhraonáin joined Clannad for a time and then went on to pursue a wildly successful solo career as Enya.
Clannad’s sound was like nobody else’s. Rich in harmonies and replete with inventive arrangements, it was frequently classified as Celtic but as the band expanded their repertoire and grew in confidence they forged a sound that might best have been described as contemporary world music. It was of its time yet timeless, rooted as it was in a rich Donegal tradition.
It wasn’t until the early 1980s that Clannad began writing their own songs, having been commissioned to write the theme for Harry’s Game. In 1986, Brennan duetted with Bono on In a Lifetime and this song, along with Harry’s Game, both from their album, Macalla catapulted them into the mainstream and introduced them to a massive audience worldwide.
[ Clannad singer and harpist Moya Brennan dies in Co Donegal, aged 73Opens in new window ]
These were listeners who might not otherwise have been drawn to Irish music, but heard something utterly beguiling in Brennan’s voice, in Clannad’s harmony singing and in the seamlessly interwoven arrangements that distinguished the band.
Brennan, who in 1991 married the photographer Tim Jarvis, with whom she had two children, had a zest for life and enjoyed collaborating with fellow Donegal singers and musicians. These included, in the impishly titled trad ensemble T with the Maggies, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill of The Bothy Band, and Ní Dhomhnaill’s sister, Maighread.
This writer can recall seeing Brennan and Clannad perform in Auckland, in New Zealand, in 1989, where they connected with the audience every bit as intimately as they did in Donegal, Brennan’s innate warmth and quiet charisma bridging the geographical divide with ease. Afterwards, the band joined many members of the audience in a local pub, where tunes and conversations flowed long into the night.
The pandemic put paid to Clannad’s plans for a 50th anniversary celebration in 2020, but they made up for that with a memorable performance at 3Arena, in Dublin, in February 2023. They revisited numerous songs from Clannad’s back catalogue, from the delicate Buachaill ón Éirne to a mesmerising reading of Dúlamán, and Brennan’s harp playing was sublime on the Turlough Carolan composition Eleanor Plunkett.
Brennan’s son, Paul, and daughter, Aisling, joined them on stage that night. They toured extensively with their mother, too, copper-fastening their familial heritage with a quiet, understated confidence.
Brennan spoke openly in recent years of her diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis, which compromised her lung capacity; she paid close attention to her health so that she could continue to sing and perform at a pace and rate that worked for her.
[ Moya Brennan: ‘I never claimed to be a traditional singer’Opens in new window ]
In her home she had a Grammy (for the band’s album Landmark) and an Emmy, along with an Ivor Novello Award, for Harry’s Game, and a Bafta award, for the soundtrack to the TV series Robin of Sherwood. But she was most honoured by her lifetime-achievement award at the RTÉ Folk Awards in 2019; three years later Dublin City University recognised her with an honorary doctorate.
For a band whose music was often described as otherworldly, Clannad’s music was unquestionably grounded in a strong sense of their own place. And it was to there that Brennan returned in recent years, having sold her home in Dublin. She died peacefully, surrounded by her family, in Donegal on Monday, April 13th.
