{"id":530619,"date":"2026-04-14T17:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T17:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/530619\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T17:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T17:05:11","slug":"moya-brennan-death-irish-folk-singer-and-clannad-star-dies-aged-73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/530619\/","title":{"rendered":"Moya Brennan death: Irish folk singer and Clannad star dies aged 73"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Irish musician and Clannad lead singer Moya Brennan has died, aged 73. <\/p>\n

The folk star, often hailed as the First Lady of Celtic Music, was best known as part of the Irish family band, which began performing in 1970 and went on to win a Bafta<\/a> and a Grammy for their traditional albums. <\/p>\n

Brennan\u2019s sister Eithne, who is better known by her stage name Enya<\/a>, announced the news of her death on X. \u201cIt is with a deep and terrible sadness that I must announce the death of my beloved sister, M\u00e1ire,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot only was she my sister, she was a dear and close friend. I would ask for privacy at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to RT\u00c9<\/a>, Brennan died peacefully on Monday (13 April) while surrounded by family. She is survived by her husband, Tim Jarvis, and their two children, Aisling and Paul. <\/p>\n

Brennan shared in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis<\/a>, a lung disease characterised by irreversible scarring. The condition affected her breathing and meant that she had to rephrase some of her songs, however, she continued to sing \u2013 touring and writing music with Aisling and Paul. <\/p>\n

\"MoyaMoya Brennan rose to fame in family band Clannad (PA)<\/p>\n

The Irish folk singer, who was born M\u00e1ire Philomena N\u00ed Bhraon\u00e1in, grew up in Gweedore \u2013 a remote Irish-speaking parish in County Donegal, Ireland. The eldest of nine children, Brennan formed the band Clannad with her brothers, P\u00f3l and Ciar\u00e1n, and their mother\u2019s twin brothers, Noel and P\u00e1draig \u00d3 D\u00fag\u00e1in, in 1970. <\/p>\n

They were joined in 1980 by Brennan\u2019s sister Eithne \u2013 who left two years later to become international sensation Enya \u2013 as well as siblings Br\u00edd\u00edn and Deirdre. <\/p>\n

The group became one of Ireland\u2019s biggest folk exports, becoming known worldwide after creating the theme for ITV\u2019s 1982 drama Harry\u2019s Game, set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The track reached No 5 in the UK Singles Chart that same year and went to number two in Ireland. <\/p>\n

They provided the soundtrack for a number of TV series, winning a Bafta Award for Best Television Music in 1984 for ITV\u2019s Robin of Sherwood. Clannad also picked up a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album after releasing Landmarks in 1999, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.<\/p>\n

Brennan was the band\u2019s lead singer for over 50 years before leaving in 2024, but she also embarked on a successful a solo career during that time, releasing album M\u00e1ire in 1992. <\/p>\n

\"NoelNoel Duggan, Ciaran Brennan, Moya Brennan, Padraig Duggan and Paul Brennan in 1982 (Getty)<\/p>\n

She later featured on the soundtrack for 2004 film King Arthur, co-writing the title theme with Hans Zimmer, as well as music for 1997 blockbuster Titanic and Robert Carlyle film To End All Wars (2001). Brennan sold over 20 million records throughout her career and released 25 albums.<\/p>\n

Brennan and her family band Clannad are often credited for introducing the Irish language into mainstream music culture, having collaborated with Mick Jagger, Bono and Paul Young among other stars.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to Brennan on BBC Radio Foyle, County Donegal singer Daniel O\u2019Donnell said that she \u201cnever forgot her roots\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved the music, and she loved to see people doing well. Especially in these last few years, she loved giving young singers a chance \u2013 that was her focus,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone around here loved her, and when you met her, she had a great peace about her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,183718,183719,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-530619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-moya-brennan-death","11":"tag-pa2026","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}