Clannad is an Irish musical group. Their music has been variously described as being folk music, new age, and Celtic. Clannad are Máire Ní Bhraonáin, Ciarán Brennan, Pól Brennan, Noel Duggan and Pádraig Duggan. Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (Enya Brennan), Máire's sister, used to be a member of the group in the early Eighties. The band won a Grammy Award in 1999 for Best New Age Album.

If you stand on the shoreline of Gweedore, Co.Donegal, way up at the top of Ireland, and you gaze, you'll witness the sweep of the Atlantic Ocean - for thousands of miles, all the way to America. Behind you a series of spectacular mountains, glens and bogs have combined with the bracing weather to keep this part of the world relatively secluded. Some beautiful strains of culture have evolved here. In the traditional singing and musicianship from the Gaelic-speaking heartland of Donegal you'll find awe and grace, history and spaciousness. The very same qualities that you'll discover in the music of Clannad.

Clannad, whose name is taken from an Clann as Dobhar meaning the family from Dore, was formed by the Brennan family in 1970. Máire, Ciarán and Pól Brennan joined uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan and began performing in their father Leo's tavern. Máire's sister, Enya, joined the band in 1979 and left three years later to pursue a successful solo career. Máire has also enjoyed a simultaneous career as a solo singer, starting with her 1992 album entitled Máire, and recently altered the spelling of her name to Moya Brennan.

"Harry's Game", the group's theme song for a television thriller, prominently featured in the film Patriot Games, was also used in a commercial for Volkswagen in 1992, and won Clannad newfound popularity

The mega-selling album "Lore"(1996) also gave some thought to the Native American Indians. On "Trail Of Tears". Noel Duggan imagined how it felt to be exiled from your ancestral land. He was also thinking about these people and their connection with the Irish. How for instance, these distant American cousins had sent money to Ireland during the patato famine of the Nineteenth Century.

Their Grammy in 1999, (their third nomination) was in recognition for the "Landmarks"(1998) record, which was once again sited in the heartland of Donegal, shaped by the mountains, the glens and the sea-lashed shores of Gweedore. In "Of This Land" Moya sings about Ireland, of its past and of its future. The track "Fadó" translates as "Long Ago", which once again demonstrates the influence of old Celtic history on Clannad's music.

In 2003, Clannad released the best of album, "In A Lifetime", which is one of their biggest selling albums to date.

Clannad have gone from strength to strength, and from their early days have created a massive fan base. The youngest of the siblings, Máire's sister and goddaughter, has just begun her road to Brennan success, her name, Brídín Brennan.

The Brennans

Parents are: Máire(or Baba) Duggan and Leo Brennan.

Siblings are: Máire (or Moya), Leon, Ciarán, Deirdre, Pól, Olive, Eithne (or Enya), Bartley, and Brídín.

The Brennans are Ireland's most successful music family. Donegal's trad music royalty have done for music that Riverdance did for Irish dancing-they've put it on the world stage. In July 2005 this extraordinary family, who have collectively sold 80million

Parents Leo and Baba nurtured this culture of music and song within the home. Baba was the local school's music teacher and Leo lead the celebrated Slieve Foy show band. The catalyst that would propel the entire family onto the stage, however, was the opening of Leo's Tavern in 1968 in Meenaleck, Co. Donegal. This pub has become a musical Mecca over the years, and Bono and Paul Brady have even been known to join in the regular jamming sessions. With such a rich music influence, it's not surprising that all nine children have at some stage paddled in the music pond.

First out of the starting blocks were Ciarán, Pól and Máire (now known as Moya), who in 1972 released Clannad's first album. Their Irish folk sound captivated audiences, and it aws to be the beginning of a long prosperous career, one that continues to grow. Over the years they have sold millions of records, they sang for The Pope, and their first famous song "The Theme From Harry's Game", was the first Gaelic song ever heard on Top Of The Pops.

The other six children can sing all can sing and play an instrument (or 20!)- Olive and Deirdre have sung on Moya's solo albums and Brídín, who for years toured with Clannad as abacking vocalist, has just now released her first solo record, "Eyes of Innocence". With such a musical legacy behind her, Brídín knows that making her own mark is not going to be easy.

Despite the success the family have experienced, it hasn't all been a bed of roses. With the music industry comes its vices and Moya, back in the heady heydays, did get embroiled in many. In 2000 she wrote her confessional biography, "The Other Side Of The Rainbow".

Baba is now the lead member of the local Catholic choir, Cór Mhuire Doire Beaga, but no longer continues to teach in the local community school Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair. The choir has gained national acclaim, and is joined all the time by her husband Leo, and joined regularly by her mega talented children.

Leo helps his son Bartley to run the family pub, Leo's Tavern, and still takes to the stage equiped with his accordian and mic.

Private Lives

The private life of lead member Moya was detailed in her biography in 2000. She confessed that the lowest point of her life was the day she had an abortion. At the peak of Clannad's success, Moya dabbled in drink and drugs, which led to the failure of her first marriage. She did a lot of cocaine due to the pressures of the Rock n' Roll industry in the eightees. But now in 2006, Moya has found God, is happily married to her second husband Tim, and has two children.

Discography

• 1972 — The Pretty Maid (Clannad)
• 1974 — Clannad 2
• 1976 — Dúlamán
• 1978 — Clannad in Concert
• 1979 — Ring Of Gold
• 1980 — Crann Úll
• 1982 — Fuaim
• 1983 — Magical Ring —
• 1984 — Legend
• 1985 — Macalla
• 1987 — Sirius
• 1988 — Atlantic Realm
• 1989 — Pastpresent
• 1989 — The Angel and the Soldier Boy
• 1992 — Anam
• 1993 — Banba
• 1995 — Lore
• 1995 — Themes
• 1997 — Landmarks
• 1997 — Rogha: The Best of Clannad
• 1998 — An Diolaim
• 2003 — The Best of Clannad: In A Lifetime
• 2005 — Clannad - Live In Concert, 1996

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