Moya Brennan

Moya Brennan

Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish Celtic and folk singer from Dublin and Blessington, and is closely associated with the Gaelic-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal, where she grows up in a large musical family. Born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin in 1952, she is the eldest of nine children. Her mother, Máire, is a music teacher, and her father, Leo Brennan, performs in a cabaret band. Her siblings include Enya, whose given name is Eithne, and she performs with family members from an early age at Leo’s Tavern in Meenaleck and in local theatre productions.

Clannad

In 1970 she joins her brothers Pól and Ciarán, along with her mother’s twin brothers Noel and Pádraig Ó Dúgáin, to form Clannad. She studies harp, piano and singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and later teaches music at Holy Cross College in Falcarragh, County Donegal. As lead vocalist, she contributes to 17 Clannad albums. The group gains wider international recognition in the 1980s, especially after the success of Magical Ring. With Clannad she receives major honours including a Grammy Award, a BAFTA and an Ivor Novello Award.

Solo career

After leaving Clannad’s active line-up following its first major period of success, Brennan begins a solo career in 1992 with Máire, released on Atlantic Records. She follows it with Misty Eyed Adventures in 1995, then signs with Word Records for Perfect Time in 1998 and Whisper to the Wild Water in 1999. The latter earns a Grammy nomination for Best New Age Album. She later adopts the professional name Moya Brennan, and formally changes her name by deed poll in 2009. Under that name she releases Two Horizons in 2003, followed by An Irish Christmas, Signature, Heart Strings and My Match Is a Makin', the last recorded with Cormac de Barra.

Collaborations, film work and other projects

Brennan contributes vocals and music to film soundtracks including Titanic, To End All Wars and King Arthur. For King Arthur she co-writes “Tell Me Now (What You See)” with Hans Zimmer. She also contributes additional music to To End All Wars and sings “You’re the One” with Shane MacGowan for Circle of Friends. Her recording of “Saltwater” with Chicane is used in tourism campaigns in Scotland and Ireland. Other collaborations include work with Alan Parsons, Bono, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Michael McDonald, Bruce Hornsby, Joe Elliott, The Chieftains, Paul Young, Paul Brady, Michael Crawford, Joe Jackson and Ronan Keating.

Later releases and appearances

Her later albums include Voices & Harps – Affinity with Cormac de Barra, Canvas, co-written with her children Aisling and Paul, and Timeless, also with de Barra. She also contributes to Alan Simon’s Excalibur III – The Origins and takes part in the charity single “Dreams” as part of Irish Women in Harmony in 2020. Across her career she records more than 20 albums and sells an estimated 20 million records.

Personal life and recognition

Brennan receives a Grammy Award from five nominations and also wins an Emmy Award. She publishes her autobiography, The Other Side of the Rainbow, in 2000. She is briefly married to musician Pat Farrell in the 1980s, then marries photographer Tim Jarvis in 1990, with whom she has two children. Her daughter is musician Aisling Jarvis. She works with a solo band on tours across Europe and North America, with musicians including Cormac de Barra and later Aisling Jarvis. She dies at her home in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, in 2026.

T with the Maggies

Brennan is also a member of T with The Maggies.