"Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad and will live on forever." Singer Moya Brennan has died, aged 73

Clannad singer Moya Brennan has died at the age of 73, at her home in Donegal after a short illness.

In a statement on the band's Facebook page, her brothers Pól and Ciarán said: "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.

Further tributes were paid by former Irish president Michael D Higgins, who had presented Brennan with an RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, who said her "name would be forever etched into the history of Irish music."

The singer told Prog back in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with the lung condition pulmonary fibrosis, stating, "I’m going to lose my breath, basically. There’s no cure for it. The only alternative is a double lung transplant, and you know how easy that is to get. I’ve had to rephrase some songs, but singing is good for my lungs. It is something that is going to progress, so that’s a very good reason to stop!”

At the time, the band had on the verge of a farewell tour, which was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. The band's live performance at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2024 was billed as their farewell show, although they did appear at a Hot Press anniversary event in February of this year.

She was born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on August 4, 1952, in Dublin, and came to prominence as part of a musical family who would perform at their parents' pub, Leo's Tavern, in the village of Meenaleck.

Clannad were formed in 1970, with Brennan joining her brothers, Pól and Ciarán, and their mother's twin brothers, Noel Duggan and Pádraig Duggan. The band secured a deal with Phillips Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1973, a collection of Irish and English-language songs, very much in the Celtic folk tradition.

Further albums in the Celtic folk tradition followed, and the band were joined by younger sister Eithne, better known as Enya, for 1980's Crann Úll album on which she plays keyboards and sings backing vocals, although she would leave after 1982's following Fuaim album.

In 1982 the band were invited to record the theme song for the Yorkshire Television mini-series Harry's Game, about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Seymour, which would prove to be the band's breakthrough, reaching No. 2 in Ireland and No. 5 in the UK and remains the only UK hit single to have been sung entirely in Irish.

The song featured on the band's next album, 1983's Magical Ring, which showed a more porgressive style of music, further emboldened when the band were commissioned to score the ITV drama series Robin Of Sherwood, released as 1984's Legend album.

"We were listening to Jethro Tull and jazz rock, and I would have been very influenced by Pentangle," Ciarán Brennan told Prog in 2021.

Clannad were primarily a prog folk act,” Nightwish musician Troy Donockley says. “Structurally, they were very much like Pentangle; the progressive tendencies shine out on albums like Dulaman [1976] and Fuaim [1981]. Check out Strange Day In The Countryside from Crann Ull [1980] – it’s very pastoral hippie-acoustic prog, with its cross-fade from harp to guitars and wordless voices.”

International success came with albums such as 1985's Macalla, which featured the duet In A Lifetime with U2 singer Bono, and 1987's Sirius, which featured former Journey vocalist Steve Perry as the band went from strength to strength, although major success also brought with it darker elements of the music industry.

“It took the label a long time to understand how folky and how Gaelic we were and what we weren’t going to give up,” Pól Brennan told Prog, of initial struggles with RCA Records, to whom the band had signed in 1982, while Moya, whi suffered som eissues with alcoholl and drugs stated, "It was everywhere and there was no warning about it. On tour someone would have a party for you and for them it was one night, but for you it was every night. It was a downhill slip.”

The band were largely inactive between 1999 and 2007, and Moya had kick-started her own solo career with the 1992 album, Máire, and continued to release solo albums.

Clannad reunited in 2006 and remained a going concern, although Pádraig Duggan died in 2016, and his brother Noel died in 2022.

"I know there will be moments on this tour that will be special, knowing it’s going to be the last time," Moya Brennan expressed to Prog about the band's farewell tour. "I cherish a lot of special moments – when you do the Royal Albert Hall and things. A family band from Donegal ending up at the Royal Albert Hall! ‘Wow, I’ve made it!’”