The Grammy and Emmy-winning ‘first lady of Celtic music’ was credited with popularising Irish music and lyrics
Moya Brennan, the lead singer of Irish folk group Clannad, has died aged 73.
In her later years, Brennan had been living with pulmonary fibrosis and faced the possibility of a double lung transplant. A statement from her family said she died peacefully in the company of loved ones in her native County Donegal.
Forming in 1970, Clannad was credited with the contemporisation of Celtic music. Brennan drew praise from artists including Bono of U2, with whom she would later duet, and the Grammy and Emmy-winning singer and harpist appeared on the soundtracks to major films including Titanic and King Arthur.
Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin was born on 4 August 1952 in Dublin, the eldest of nine children. It was a musical family: the siblings would sing to packed crowds in the family’s pub – despite local belief that no one wanted to see music in such venues – and Brennan pursued her musical education at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.
