Moya finds her haunting voice
Ill-health, the pressures of fame, family relationships ... and that voice. Clannad’s Moya Brennan is the subject of a film celebrating her 50 years in entertainment. John Meagher reports
Clannad star opens up about a topsy-turvy half century in the entertainment business
IT was a diagnosis that knocked her sideways. In 2016, Moya Brennan learned she had pulmonary fibrosis. In layman’s terms, it’s a comparatively rare condition that results in the scarring of the lungs and can lead to severe respiratory problems.
As one of the most distinctive vocalists Ireland has ever produced, the prospect of Brennan being robbed of her ability to sing was a sobering one. It was a fear she had herself when first trying to get her head around the news.
But, once she had done all her research on the disease, she came to the happy conclusion that regular singing is among the best things one can do to stabilise the situation.
And, she says, she has been putting that voice to good use every day.
Moya Brennan has been a fixture of this country’s cultural landscape for half a century. Originally known by her birth name Maire Ni Bhraonain — changing to Moya by deed poll in 2009 — she came to prominence in her native Donegal in 1970 when her family band won a trad music competition there. Three years later, they gave themselves a name — Clannad — which is derived from the Irish word for family.
In 1975, after receiving a sustained standing ovation at the end of a concert in Berlin, they decided to turn professional.
Now, following last year’s lifetime achievement award, presented to her by Irish President Michael D Higgins, she is the subject of a new documentary, Moya, to be broadcast on December 29.
Brennan is 68, but looks 10 years younger. Despite her health troubles she says she is happy. She’s back living in Donegal, after the best part of 30 years in Dublin, and she says she is enjoying the quieter pace of life.
Clannad were on the British leg of a 50th anniversary tour when Covid-19 hit hard. “The last show we did was on March 19,” she says, “but even before that there were increasing numbers of empty seats. People just didn’t feel comfortable coming out.”
She says the shows they didn’t get to play will be fulfilled, possibly in 2021, if the coronavirus can be brought under control.
“Our first album was in 1973, so even if we don’t get to play until then (2023), we could still call it a 50th anniversary tour!”
As a solo artist, she has won an Emmy, been nominated for two Grammy awards and has sung for presidents and popes. She appeared on the soundtrack of one of the highest grossing films ever, Titanic.
As the vocal and focal point of Clannad, she has recorded 17 albums, won a Grammy and a Bafta and she collected an Ivor Novello songwriting award for the Theme from Harry’s Game.
There is a special place in her heart for Harry’s Game. It remains the only song featuring lyrics in Irish to make it into the UK Top 10.
“There was so much excitement back home when we were on Top of the Pops,” she says. “It felt like a big deal and it showed people that we were trying different things — we weren’t just making trad music.”
Acceptance wasn’t always forthcoming in Ireland when they were starting out.
“We couldn’t get a gig to save our lives, because it was all about the ballad boom and we were this nice family band singing in Irish,” she says. “Wellknown people used to say to us, ‘You’ve a nice sound but you’ll never get anywhere singing in Irish.’”
A long line of admirers feature in the film, including Bono, who duetted with Brennan on the 1985 hit In A Lifetime. The U2 frontman is generous and flamboyant in his praise. He says he had to pull the car over so gobsmacked was he when he first heard her voice. The documentary offers a potted history of Brennan’s career highs, but it’s at its most compelling when delving deep into personal matters.
She had several demons to contend with in the mid-1980s, when she was at the peak of her commercial popularity. She admits to feeling emptiness during her greatest success, not least because she was finding it hard to cope with fame and its trappings.
“There was an awful lot of drink about from the 70s on,” she says, “and there were none of the warnings that you’d have today. But, looking back, I drank way too much.”
Cocaine became part of her life, too. “I wasn’t asking for it, it was just there. And there were other drugs, too, but I was too afraid to go near them.”
Brennan got married, but it didn’t work out. Salvation came from an unexpected source: NME photographer Tim Jarvis. In 1986, he was dispatched to Donegal to shoot her for the magazine. It was a case of instant attraction. They married in 1991 and have two children, Aisling and Paul, both of whom play in her band. Jarvis also acts as her manager.
“I feel so lucky to have met him,” Brennan says. “Who knows how my life would have turned out otherwise?”
Her path took a decidedly different turn in other ways, too. She has strong religious faith now and has released two albums of Christian music. She has written about the regrets
‘There was an awful lot of drink about and none of the warnings you’d have today
Moya Brennan
she has had at having an abortion at 19.
Unsurprisingly, several family members — including mother Baba and sister Deirdre — take part in the film, but her most famous sibling, Enya, is a notable absentee.
Enya — born Eithne Ni Bhraonain — was a member of Clannad between 1980 and 1982, but left to follow her own distinct musical path. She joined forces with Clannad’s former sound engineer, Nicky Ryan, and his wife Roma, and since then the music released as Enya has been about the triumvirate working in unison.
If Moya Brennan is fed up about questions about Enya, she doesn’t show it. “She made a decision that she wanted to create her own, you know, persona and we respect that totally,” she says. “It was a road that she wanted to go on. She’s my sister and I love her to bits — and we get on great — but it’s kind of where she wants to be in her music and her life. She’s done amazing — and she’s done it her own way.”
While Moya’s career has been characterised by collaborations, Enya’s has not. Does she think the two ever work together again?
“No,” she says. “You see, she was part of Clannad at the beginning so we did do something — two albums — and if you look at Clannad’s life we do something and we move on. And sometimes we get criticised for that.
“She likes to spend a lot of time doing her albums and that’s the way she records, so it’s completely different to my way. But we totally respect each other.”
Moya is on TG4 on Tuesday, December 29 at 9.20pm