Born August 4th, 1952
Died April 13th, 2026
The death of Clannad’s singer and harpist Moya Brennan leaves a void, such was her unique voice and genteel presence forged through a hugely successful career in music that spanned over five decades.
Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin was born into a family that lived and breathed music. Her father, Leo, and her mother, Máire (known as Baba, nee Ó Dúgáin) were both from Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal. Moya was the eldest of nine children and 16 years separated her from her youngest sister, Brídín, to whom Moya was like a second mother.
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Moya attended the small local Scoil Phádraig Dobhair where her grandfather was principal and her grandmother was a teacher. Her father sent her to the Ursuline College in Sligo for her secondary schooling, as this was where Mary O’Hara (then the doyenne of the harp) had learned to play.
Moya was initially unimpressed by the harp, but once she gained some facility, she fell deeply in love with the instrument, and ultimately extended its reach through her innovative playing style.
Live performance in Leo’s pub was the stuff of daily life for Moya and her siblings throughout their early years, and right until her death, it was her favourite place to sing, share songs and support others to express themselves musically. The monthly club she started 14 years ago, Clubeo, proved to be a significant launch pad for many local musicians, and even though grappling with her own terminal health condition, Moya ensured that its programme was confirmed for many months to come.
Moya, along with her brothers Pól and Ciarán and her twin uncles, Pádraig and Noel, were initially an informal ensemble. So entwined were their musical and personal lives that they were surprised to find themselves with a recording contract, the spoils of competing at Letterkenny Arts Festival in 1973.
They settled on a title for their band, Clannad (from Clann as Dobhair: family from Dore) and embarked on a circuitous route to ultimate global success, from afternoon performances in secondary schools to intensive touring across Europe. Their younger sister Eithne joined the band in the early 1980s but left to pursue a globally successful career as Enya.
Clannad’s early repertoire mined a deep seam of Donegal music, but their distinctive harmonies benefited from the eclectic mix of music they had listened to throughout their lives, from the Beach Boys to the Everly Brothers. Pinprick precision arrangements scaffolded that peerless voice, which was equal parts fragile and visceral, grounded in her home place but fuelled by her appetite for exploring new sonic worlds.
In the early 1980s Clannad began to write their own music, buoyed by a commission to compose the theme music for Harry’s Game, a British TV series about the Troubles. Their performance of Theme from Harry’s Game on Top of the Pops in November 1982 marked the first appearance of the Irish language on that TV programme.
The song proved a huge hit with the listening public and paved the way for their subsequent success with In a Lifetime (from their 1985 album, Macalla) featuring a mesmerising duet with Bono. The Theme from Harry’s Game also garnered an Ivor Novello award.
The band won a Bafta award in 1985 for their soundtrack to the TV series Robin of Sherwood. They also won an Emmy and a Grammy followed in 1999 in the Best New Age Album category for Landmark.
It was the RTÉ Folk Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2019 that resonated more deeply with Moya though, as she appreciated this recognition from her Irish peers. In 2022 DCU conferred an honorary doctorate in recognition of her big contribution to Irish music and culture.
[ Moya Brennan: ‘I never claimed to be a traditional singer’Opens in new window ]
It wasn’t all plain sailing, however. Moya openly acknowledged the toll that travelling to the UK for an abortion in 1972 took on her. She struggled with addiction to alcohol, cannabis and cocaine during the early 1980s and in 1985 she married musician Pat Farrell, which lasted 18 months.
In 1987 she met English photographer (and cellist), Tim Jarvis, who would become her husband in 1990. Faith formed a deep part of her addiction recovery and one of her personal favourite songs was Perfect Time, co-written with Jarvis, and the title track of a solo album released in 1998.
Alongside the release of 25 Clannad and solo recordings, Moya relished a return to the source of her music by collaborating with three stellar Donegal singers and musicians, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (formerly of The Bothy Band) and Maighréad Ní Dhomhnaill, their group fittingly named T with the Maggies.
“I watched herself and Clannad rise to fame with pride’”, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh recalls. “They paved the way for younger Gaeltacht musicians, like myself in Altan, to fulfil dreams of travelling the world with our Donegal music and song and play in iconic venues from The Albert Hall to the Sydney Opera House.”
Ní Mhaonaigh has long been in thrall of Moya’s voice.
“It lifted me into another reality,” she says. “She herself didn’t know where it came from, when asked, but it was definitely the combination of her being, her gentle soul, her other worldly quality. It touched my deepest being, it was more than Irish music, it was more than a country, a creed or place. It was the very essence of feeling, joy and sadness.”
As a person, Moya’s position as firstborn shaped her throughout her life. She always felt a natural urge to mother her younger siblings. She “was born to be a mother” and was one “through and through” to her siblings, long before she had her own two children, according to her daughter, Aisling, who described her mother as “warm, gracious, incredibly kind and generous, with a big heart, who gave so much of her time and energy to people”.
Paul, Moya’s son recalls how she “would sing to us, be there for us, encourage us. She always encouraged us to follow our dreams. She would say, ‘Believe in yourself and try not to stress over things you have no control over.’”
A diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis did not prevent her from continuing to tour with her band. A farewell tour planned for 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic, but between 2021 and 2023 Clannad toured the UK, Europe, Australia and the US, marking their final official Irish appearance with a magnificent performance in the 3Arena in February 2023. Moya also toured with her solo material, supported on all of her tours by her children, Aisling and Paul in her band, and with her husband at her side.
The pandemic also spurred an initially temporary move back to Donegal from her Monkstown home, but that became permanent when she and Jarvis found how much they loved being back.
She performed at Tradfest and at Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January and her final Dublin appearance was at the Hot Press 50th anniversary celebrations in February.
She was also an active philanthropist and had close associations with the Christian Blind Mission, with addiction treatment services and with environmental causes. Moya retained her zest for life throughout her difficult illness, and in recent years she had been recording new music with her family, which may be released at some time in the future.
. She is survived by her husband, Tim Jarvis, her daughter Aisling and son Paul, her granddaughter Eden, her mother, Máire (Baba), her sisters Deirdre, Enya, Olive & Brídín and her brothers Ciarán, Pól and Bartley. She was predeceased by her brother Leon.
