The muse of Irish folk music, Moya Brennan, star of Clannad, has died at 73.
Brennan was widely recognized as the voice of Celtic Ireland.
The singer, harpist and composer died in Donegal surrounded by her loved ones.
Moya Brennan, who was the face of Irish music, best known as a member of the Irish Family Band, emerged in the 1970s and went on to win a Bafta and a Grammy for her folk albums.
She was born in West Donegal as Maire Philomena on August 5, 1952, the eldest of nine children of the famous O’Braonain family.
Moya Brennan rose to fame when she began performing with her family in Clannad.
Moya and her siblings, Pol and Ciaran, along with their twin uncles Noel and Padraig O Dugain, began singing regularly at the family pub in Min na Leice.
The group called themselves Clan as Dobhar (Family of Dore) but shortened their name to Clannad in 1973.
Their big breakthrough came in 1982, when their theme song to the TV series Harry’s Game became a worldwide sensation.
For context, this was the first Irish-language track to reach the UK charts, which they performed on on Top of the Pops.
The song won an Ivor Novello Award, then a Grammy and a Billboard Music Award.
Clannad didn’t stop there, they once again crushed the charts with another number one duet with Bono, Once in a lifetime.
The group would go on to release 25 albums and sell 20 million records worldwide.
She is survived by her husband, Tim Jarvis, and their two children, Aisling and Paul.
