Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin
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Lead singer of Clannad, Moya Brennan defined Celtic music by blending traditional Irish arrangements with ethereal vocals. She sold more than 10 million albums and won an Emmy Award. Her solo work includes the Grammy-nominated ‘Whisper to the Wild Water’ 1999. She also contributed vocals to films such as ‘King Arthur’ 2004 and ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ 1992.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Maire Brennan — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Maire Brennan by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Maire Brennan — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin was born in Dublin in 1952 and grew up as the eldest of nine children in the village of Meenaleck, County Donegal. Her father Leo Brennan owned a pub, Leo’s Tavern, where she and her siblings sang together. After secondary school, she studied harp, piano, and singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and later taught music at Holy Cross College in Falcarragh.
In 1970, she joined her brothers Pól and Ciarán and their uncles Noel and Pádraig Ó Dúgáin to form Clannad. The band gained international chart success in 1982 with the album Magical Ring. As lead vocalist, her layered voice defined the emerging Celtic music sound. Clannad’s song Theme from Harry’s Game appeared in the film Patriot Games 1992, and the band won Grammy, Ivor Novello, and BAFTA awards. She released five solo albums, starting with Máire in 1992. Her 1999 album Whisper to the Wild Water received a Grammy nomination. She contributed vocals to film soundtracks including King Arthur 2004, for which she co-wrote Tell Me Now What You See with Hans Zimmer, and The Last of the Mohicans 1992, where she co-wrote I Will Find You. She also performed with Bono, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, and many others.
She has been married twice: first to Pat Farrell and later to photographer Tim Jarvis, whom she married in January 1991. She has a daughter, Aisling Ann Precious born 1992, and a son, Paul Leo born 1994. She is a committed Christian and has spoken about overcoming alcohol and drug dependency in her autobiography The Other Side of the Rainbow 2000. Her siblings include the singer Enya. She lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Moya Brennan co-founded Clannad and defined the genre’s ethereal vocal style. In 2007 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Meteor Awards in Dublin. In 2024 she was named Donegal Person of the Year. She has sold over 20 million albums throughout her career. Her work on film soundtracks like The Last of the Mohicans and King Arthur brought her voice to a global audience. She is best known as the lead singer of Clannad and for creating the modern Celtic music genre.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Maire Brennan — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Little-known facts about Maire Brennan — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Enya is her younger sister; Brennan is the eldest of nine children.
She has performed with Bono, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Michael McDonald, Joe Jackson, Bruce Hornsby, The Chieftains, Paul Brady, Michael Crawford and many others.
She is the eldest of nine children.
In 2000 she performed in front of 2.1 million people, the largest crowd ever gathered in the Northern Hemisphere, at the Pope’s Prayer Vigil for World Youth Day in Rome.
Gaelic is her first language; when Clannad performed their award-winning ‘Theme from Harry’s Game’ on Top of the Pops, it was the first time Irish had been heard on the show.
She has a daughter, Aisling Ann Precious born 1992, and a son, Paul Leo born 1994.
She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the international disability charity CBM.
Her vocal range is Dramatic Soprano.
She has made over thirty albums and has toured all over the world.
With her family band Clannad, she started what is known today as Celtic music, played all over the world.
She has sold over 10 million albums worldwide and is recognised as the solo voice in A-List movies such as King Arthur, Last of the Mohicans, Circle of Friends, Switch and Into the West.
On March 17, 2004, she performed at the Speaker’s Luncheon on Capitol Hill in front of President George W. Bush and Irish dignitaries.
She performed and recorded Ireland’s official Olympic team song, Green to Gold, in August 2008.
She received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Meteor Awards in Dublin.
She recently completed music for the film King Arthur 2004 with Jerry Bruckheimer.
She toured with An Irish Christmas Tour in Germany, beginning with a concert in St. Johanniskirche in Hamburg.
She performed at the Chelsea Flower Show for Diarmuid Gavin’s Show Garden.
She released her newest album Two Horizons in 2003 and toured the U.S. and Europe.
She performed at the Edmonton Folk Festival and had solo and Clannad shows in France, Dubai, Scandinavia, Poland, Czech Republic, UK and Ireland.
She continued with tours of UK, Germany, USA.
Her album An Irish Christmas was released in USA/Canada in 2006.
Her studio album Signature was released in Europe in 2006 with a worldwide release in spring 2007.
She began performing professionally in 1970 when her family formed Clannad.
On 17 March 2004, she performed at the Speaker’s Luncheon on Capitol Hill in front of President George W. Bush and Irish dignitaries.
During World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, she performed with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vigil in front of a million people and was part of the official WYD CD Building on World.
Moya Brennan, also known as Máire Brennan, was an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist.
She has received a Grammy Award from five nominations and has won an Emmy Award.
She appeared on the album Excalibur III – The Origins by Alan Simon, singing on tracks The Origins Part I and II, Incantations and Sacred Lands, and performed at the concert in Brocéliande, Brittany in July 2012.
She released her first solo album in 1992 called Máire, which was a successful venture.
She recorded charitable singles and appeared on albums with various artists, including ‘Raphael’s Journey’ by Joanne Hogg, Songs for Luca and Songs for Luca 2 by Iona, and the official song for Ireland’s 2008 Olympic Team, Green to Gold. She donated her b-side Ceolfaidh Mé to the Field of Hope album, which also featured Bono and The Corrs.
She toured with a large band of musicians who had recorded solo projects, including harpist and television presenter Cormac de Barra.
In 2009, she recorded the soundtrack for Maryland Public Television’s documentary Intrepid Journal, about 50 years of American foreign policy from WWII to 9/11.
In 1986, she performed with Bono, Bob Geldof, Chris de Burgh and Clannad for Self Aid. She also contributed to Amnesty International with the single Rí na Cruinne.
In 1985 she and Clannad donated their song Almost Seems Too Late To Turn to Children in Need, which became the charity appeal’s first official single.
In July 2005, alongside poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh and locals, she protested against electric cable installation in County Donegal.
While touring in 2007-2008, she recorded collaborations with Iona, Joanne Hogg and Grand Canal on Green to Gold, all for charity.
She was announced as Donegal Person of the Year 2023 on 10 February 2024, and inaugurated at a gala ball on 6 April 2024. She co-hosted the Together for Creeslough concert in January 2023.
Her 2008-2009 live album Heart Strings was recorded with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Julie Feeney; she toured extensively in the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and England.
She traveled to shanty-towns in Brazil and performed with Assíria Nascimento in 2007. She also went to Belize for the opening of a school for abused children, backed by CBM.
She traveled to Tanzania and played a major role in publicizing CBM’s missions, and performed worldwide with other CBM Goodwill Ambassadors.
Since 2002 she promoted herself as Moya Brennan, and in 2009 she legally changed her name by deed poll. She released an album under this name, Two Horizons, in 2003 on Universal.
She wrote an autobiography The Other Side of the Rainbow in 2000, recalling her upbringing and struggles with alcohol, drugs, and an abortion.
With Clannad, she recorded songs about landscape protection, including An Pháirc from their debut album and later Big Yellow Taxi.
She performed at benefit concerts in Ireland and England, notably with Van Morrison in 1996.
In 2003, she became Goodwill Ambassador to Christian Blind Mission Ireland. Her first trip was to Congo-Kinshasa, where violence forced evacuation to Kenya; she returned in 2005 to airlift three children.
She performed concerts for charities helping those affected by drug and alcohol addiction, attending services with her family in Dún Laoghaire.
In October 2008, she was appointed director for Ireland’s first Christian satellite radio station, UCB Ireland.
In total she recorded 25 albums and sold 20 million records.
In 1970, she joined her brothers Pól and Ciarán and uncles to form Clannad, introduced to television by Tony MacMahon. After a decade, Clannad achieved chart success in 1982 with Magical Ring.
She had four sisters Deirdre, Eithne/Enya, Olive, Brídín and four brothers Ciarán, Pól, Leon, Bartley. She sang with siblings in the family pub, Leo’s Tavern.
After secondary school, she studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, learning harp, piano, and singing. She also taught music at Holy Cross College in Falcarragh.
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