Enya pays tribute to sister Moya Brennan after Celtic music legend dies aged 73

Grammy and Emmy award-winning singer and harpist Moya Brennan, largely credited for taking Celtic music to the mainstream, has died at the age of 73.

Brennan was best known as a founding member of Clannad, the Irish folk band that released celebrated hits like Theme from Harry’s Game and I Will Find You.

The musician, also known as Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease, in 2020. Her family announced on Tuesday (AEST) that she died peacefully surrounded by loved ones in her home town in County Donegal.

“We are completely heartbroken at the passing of our dearest sister Máire (Moya),” her brothers and fellow Clannad members Pól and Ciarán wrote on Facebook. “She ... has now joined Pádraig and Noel [Brennan’s uncles] across the veil. Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad and will live on forever.”

Described as the “first lady of Celtic music”, Brennan was instrumental in the modernisation of the genre, blending Irish language with more contemporary pop melodies. She and Clannad, which she formed alongside her family in 1970, went on to collaborate with a string of famous names, including Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan and Bono.

Their music not only won Grammys and BAFTAs, but also featured in film and television such as Harry’s Game, Robin Of Sherwood and the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans. Though the group didn’t create the music for the blockbuster hit Titanic, many believe its score, composed by James Horner, was largely influenced by Clannad’s lush, haunting sound.

The band originally consisted of Brennan, her brothers Pól and Ciarán, and their twin uncles, Noel and Pádraig Ó Dúgáin. They would perform in local pubs, and later at festivals like the Slógadh Youth Festival. Brennan’s sister joined the group in the ’80s, but later left to pursue a massively popular solo career as Enya, the best-selling solo Irish artist in history.

Despite generally not being active on social media, Enya announced her sister’s death on Facebook on Tuesday. “It is with a deep and terrible sadness that I must announce the death of my beloved sister, Máire. Not only was she my sister, she was a dear and close friend. I would ask for privacy at this time.”

Bono, the frontman of Irish rock band U2, also paid tribute to Brennan, remembering his former collaborator’s voice as “otherworldly”.

“She sang like an angel,” he told the Irish Independent. “She walked through this world like an angel, and now she’s back with her own kind. We love you, Moya.”

Una Healy, a member of the English-Irish girl group The Saturdays, shared a photo of herself beside Brennan on Instagram, and said she was “deeply saddened to hear of the loss of … Ireland’s first lady of Celtic music”.

“I had the great pleasure of meeting and singing with Moya on a number of occasions,” she wrote. “She was such a beautiful person and a legend.”

Speaking on the radio show Morning Ireland, fiddler and lead singer of Irish folk band Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, said Brennan helped pave the way for musicians like herself, and described her as her hero.

“The amount of people who have gotten interested in the Irish language because of her voice; her unique, delicate voice,” Mhaonaigh said. “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.”

Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin also paid his respects on Instagram, describing Brennan as an “iconic Irish voice” and applauding her and Clannad for bringing Irish folk music to the international stage.

English DJ Chicane (Nicholas Bracegirdle), who collaborated with Brennan on the 2000 track Saltwater, said he believed Brennan and Clannad created some of “the most emotive music” he’s ever heard.

Clannad continued touring until 2024. The band released 13 albums, the most recent being Nádúr in 2013. Brennan began a successful solo career in 1992, releasing the album, Máire. She continued to work on solo projects until 2024, when she released Voices & Harps IV with Cormac de Barra.

She is survived by her husband, British photographer Tim Jarvis, their two children, and her siblings, including Enya.

The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.