RIP Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan, who has died aged 73, was the haunting voice of Clannad, the Donegal family traditional group that brought Irish-language singing to Top of the Pops with the theme from Harry’s Game and helped give television’s Robin of Sherwood its otherworldly sound.
Clannad’s breakthrough came in 1982 when Theme from Harry’s Game, sung entirely in Irish, became a surprise hit in Britain. It was an unlikely success: a song in Irish, drawn from a Yorkshire Television drama about the Troubles, it found a wide audience and carried Brennan’s voice far beyond Donegal.
Clear and unforced, it had a stillness that set it apart from the prevailing pop sound. From that point, Clannad moved on to the international stage, Brennan’s singing securing a new audience for Irish music.
She was born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on August 4 1952, and grew up in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking district) of Gweedore in north-west Co Donegal, the oldest of nine children in a family steeped in music. Her father, Leo Brennan, was a teacher and musician who ran Leo’s Tavern, a gathering place for traditional players. Her mother, Baba, came from the Duggan family, long associated with traditional music.
Clannad first took shape in 1970, formed by Brennan with her brothers Ciarán and Pól, their uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan, and other members of the extended family, drawing on a shared inheritance of song while beginning to shape a sound that would carry far beyond its local roots.
The group built on the success of Theme from Harry’s Game with a series of recordings that blended Irish traditional music with a more contemporary, atmospheric sound. Their work on Robin of Sherwood (ITV, 1984-86) confirmed their gift for mood and setting, and helped to establish a distinctive style. As the group’s lead singer, Moya Brennan was central to that sound, her voice bringing clarity and control to music that might otherwise have drifted into the merely decorative.
Her younger sister, Enya, was also a member of Clannad for a brief period in the early 1980s before leaving to pursue a solo career of exceptional international success. If Enya’s later fame came to eclipse that of Clannad, Moya Brennan remained its defining voice, the singer most closely identified with its sound and its origins in the Donegal Gaeltacht.
She embarked on a solo career in the early 1990s, beginning with the album Máire, which carried forward the qualities that had defined her work with Clannad while allowing a greater degree of personal expression. Songs such as Show Me and Perfect Time reflected a more intimate and reflective style, drawing on themes of faith and heritage. Her solo recordings retained the clarity and restraint of her earlier singing.
While her solo work did not seek the scale of international success achieved by some contemporaries, it sustained a loyal audience. It confirmed her standing as one of the most distinctive voices to emerge from modern Irish music. In her early years, she passed through a period of excess, marked by heavy drinking, drug abuse and the uncertainties of life on the road, before a renewed religious faith brought a greater sense of direction to both her life and career.
Moya Brennan performing in Banbury in 2022
Moya Brennan performing in Banbury in 2022 Credit: Alamy
Alongside her work with Clannad and as a solo artist, Moya Brennan contributed to film and television soundtracks and collaborated with a range of musicians, her voice lending itself naturally to music that sought atmosphere rather than display. Whether singing in Irish or English, she maintained a disciplined simplicity of style, avoiding ornament for its own sake and allowing the line of a song to carry its own emotional weight.
In later years, she continued to perform and record, even as her health declined, and she spoke with characteristic directness about living with pulmonary fibrosis. The former Irish president Michael D Higgins praised her as a singer whose work had carried the Irish language to audiences far beyond its native places. Bono spoke of a voice that seemed to belong to another realm, at once ancient and entirely modern. These responses were united in recognising a singer who had altered the sound of Irish music without ever abandoning its roots.
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With Clannad she received several accolades, including a Grammy Award, and the group’s work for television brought further recognition, including a Bafta. Brennan herself was widely described as the “First Lady of Celtic Music”, a title she carried lightly but which reflected the influence of a voice that helped to bring Irish-language song into the modern musical world.
In 1999 she published her autobiography, The Other Side of the Rainbow.
Moya Brennan’s marriage to the musician Pat Farrell ended after little more than a year. She later married the photographer Tim Jarvis, who survives her with their daughter and son.
Moya Brennan, born August 4 1952, died April 13 2026
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/04/15/moya-brennan-singer-with-clannad-celtic-music/
Comments
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RIP0
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Absolutely beautiful voice,
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RIP
An ethereal voice, truly magical.0 -
RIP0
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RIP, she sung the theme tune to Harry’s Game in the 80’s.0
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Never knew the name, but will never forget the voice.
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RIP. Loved the collaborations with Chicane in the 90s. She had a great voice.3
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Chicane -Saltwater is a classic. Amazing voice.1
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RIP
Loved her voice.0 -
Absolutely wonderful haunting voice. I really liked the 'Both sides now' Joni Mitchell cover with Paul Young and 'In a lifetime' with Bono. Love Clannad and used to just listen to the albums in full and my mind would wonder over to Donegal. RIP & God bless you Moya.1
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Wonderful voice RIP0
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RIP0
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Bugger. RIP0
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Saw Clannad three times, including their ‘in a lifetime’ farewell show in London a couple of years ago (postponed twice because of Covid). A mesmerising voice. RIP.1
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A really big part of my growing up in an Irish family in London. Harry’s Game centred around da’s birthplace of the Falls Road and places I knew from school holiday trips home to see our family. Moyà & Clannad’s theme tune just added so much atmosphere to the drama and got me seeking out their earlier work.A stunning voice and a beautiful soul. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam 💚2
