A determination and deep commitment to continuation drove Moya Brennan and with Clannad she was surrounded by the certainty of family and opportunity to display her roots in myriad settings. Simon Jones recollects a remarkable lady and unforgettable voice.

Only occasionally in this journalism game do you get to meet someone like Moya Brennan. Someone so assured and at ease with both sides of the musical life that she pursued. With her there was no artifice, no stage persona, no pretense she was who she was, an artist who revelled in her solo career and enjoyed Clannad and all they’d  achieved but equally was still the same level headed person off stage, happy with family, friends and faith.

Encountering her latterly back stage at Cropedy, where Clannad were to deliver their last English performance after announcing their retirement, she joyfully greeted me after a reunion with Jacqui McShee of Pentangle which had taken both of them down memory lane resplendent in gales of laughter and banter about their respective careers and shared experience.

She was courteous and modest as I asked her about her achievements, values and what gave her motivation. Despite having had hit records, recorded with the great and the good, found success across the stages of the world and even become something of an Irish music icon herself, Moya Brennan was rooted and took nothing for granted. She was still she insisted the girl from County Donegal who sang with her family and played harp. It made no difference if you played City Hall New York, Hammersmith Odeon or the family bar in Gweedore, the aim was to entertain and produce the best music you could.

It was the 1980s which saw Clannad move rapidly from the cosy confines of the British/Irish folk circuit to giddy heights, Top Of The Pops, TV comissions, big name record labels and collaboration after collaboration, Bono, Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Bruce Hornsby, Michael McDonald, Shane MacGowan and Michael Crawford were but fraction of the other artists she sang with. She knew what she called her  “dark days” too though, because with commercial success come all manner of temptations and less than healthy attractions. After resetting her life, she found peace through a deeper Christian commitment and settled family with husband and music photographer Tim Jarvis. Her son and daughter became part of her band so continuing the family’s musical heritage. “They’re both fine musicians and work with newer elements and their own ideas which refreshes what I do,” she told me.

Less well known than it should be is her charitable work which fell broadly into three categories, Christian Blind Mission for whom she was a Global Ambassador visiting and working in the Congo and Rwanda, those with addiction issues and helping preserve the natural world. With Clannad she had taken part in the Irish Self Aid concerts as well as Children In Need and Amnesty International.

I’d first come across Clannad at the glorious but now generally forgotten Leeds Folk Festival of the early 80s just as their album ‘Magical Ring’ was taking off. Their set was as mystical as it was breathy and almost gothic, the folksy Clannad was giving way to electronics and synths which built atmosphere and ambience in ways not yet associated with Irish Gaelic music. In that sense what they played was pioneering. Moya was there at the centre whether singing divinely or plucking strings from the harp which fronted up jigs and reels in a softer mode. The final time I glimpsed her was in a solo setting at Shrewsbury Folk Festival four decades later, she played a spirited, gracious set, mostly unplugged but still with enough energy and vim to put many others to shame. Her vocal still intact, she played in a small band including her children clearly steeped in the music of their forefathers which also reminded you of just how the ‘less could be more’ philosophy of Clannad was magnificently effective. She was cheered to the top of the marquee.

Moya Brennan leaves a musical legacy of great repute and potency, her dedication to her country and causes was like her work, multi layered. She will be missed by those who love Celtic music and its many branches. She passed away on 13th of April aged just 73. A wonderfully unique lady.