Formation in Meenaleck, County Donegal, the pub owned by Leo Brennan where members of Clannad first performed Clannad was formed by siblings , Moya Brennan|, and Pól Brennan| Brennan with their twin uncles
Noel and Duggan. (Despite the ostensible generation gap, the Brennans and their uncles were in fact very close in age, with only three years separating the Duggan brothers from Máire.) They grew up in Dore, a remote parish in
Gweedore, County Donegal; in north-western Ireland, it is a region where
Irish is the main spoken language. They were raised as a
Roman Catholic family of musicians: the Brennans' mother, "Baba" Brennan (
née Duggan), the daughter of the local headmaster, was a music teacher and later choir leader; and their father, Leo Brennan, who played saxophone and accordion, was a member of the Slieve Foy, an
Irish showband that had toured Ireland and Scotland. In 1968, the Brennan and Duggan fathers bought and restored a dilapidated old tavern in nearby Meenaleck and ran it as a music bar called
Leo's Tavern. Their children performed there together and developed their own act, with and Brennan on bass, vocals, and bongos; and Noel Duggan on guitars; and elder Brennan sister on
harp and vocals. They won the competition prize of
Ir£500, a trophy, and a recording contract with
Polydor Records, although the band members were too young to sign it. With help from a grandfather, they had named themselves , Irish for 'Family from Dore', and they used this name until 1973, when they shortened the name to Clannad. They also wrote original material, and covered songs by
the Beatles, the
Rolling Stones, and
Joni Mitchell. Recordings from a tour of Switzerland in 1978 were released in the following year as
Clannad in Concert. Also in 1979, Clannad undertook a 36-date tour of North America, the most extensive by an Irish band at that time. In 1980, Clannad became a six-piece band when Nicky Ryan invited a younger Brennan sister,
(Enya), to join as an additional singer and keyboard player to expand the group's sound via extra vocals and electronic instruments. 's first recordings with Clannad were made as a guest musician (uncredited) on their fifth studio album, ('Apple Tree'), which was recorded in
Cologne, Germany, and released in 1980 on
Tara Music. "" featured a particularly full band arrangement which reflected their live jams, while "" showed early hints of a more atmospheric side to the band's arrangements. By the time Clannad entered
Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin to record their next album, ('Sound'), had become a full-time member. This album, on the
Tara Records label, continued the group's experimentation with electronic instruments, and was featured on lead vocals on "" and "".
Neil Buckley played clarinet and saxophone, with Noel Bridgeman on percussion and Pat Farrell on electric guitar. was released by Tara Music in 1982. Despite Nicky Ryan's attempt to steer Clannad towards a more layered, electronic, heavily-produced direction, he felt that they had a tendency to revert to their original folk-music style; following arguments and a band meeting during a 1982 European tour, the Ryans resigned as group managers. , feeling increasingly restricted in a band setting, departed with them to pursue what would prove to be an internationally successful solo career, as
Enya, with the Ryans as collaborators.
1982–1985: "Theme from ''Harry's Game" and Magical Ring'' In 1982, the five-piece Clannad signed to
RCA Records and acquired Dave Kavanagh as their new manager. They accepted an invitation to record the title music for ''
Harry's Game, a three-part television drama depicting the Troubles in Northern Ireland, based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Seymour. Seymour suggested that the band record music for the show. Released as a single in October 1982, "Theme from Harry's Game''" became the band's commercial breakthrough and caught international attention. It peaked at No. 2 in Ireland and No. 5 in the UK, and reached the top 20 in the Netherlands and Sweden. It remains the only UK hit single to have been sung entirely in Irish. Clannad's national exposure increased further when they performed the song on
Top of the Pops. From 1983 to 1987, Irish rock band
U2 used the song at the end of their concerts. Following this success, the group released their seventh studio album,
Magical Ring, in March 1983. In addition to "Theme from ''Harry's Game''", it featured a mix of original and traditional Irish songs plus a cover of "
I See Red" by
Jim Rafferty. The album peaked at No. 26 in the UK, and became the group's first album to be
certified gold by the
British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Two singles were released from the album: "I See Red" went to No. 19 in Ireland and No. 81 in the UK, and "
Newgrange" reached No. 30 and No. 65, respectively. In April 1983, Clannad were awarded a
Hot Press Music Award for their impact on Irish music in the previous year. Around this time, noted that although the group had lost fans of their traditional folk sound, they had gained new ones as a result of their commercial success. In 1984, the band embarked on their first major concert tour of the UK, which was followed by a 18-month world tour, including dates across the US and USSR. The album featured numerous backing musicians, who continued to work with the band on tour, including ex-
King Crimson saxophonist
Mel Collins,
Moving Hearts' guitarist
Anthony Drennan, and drummer Paul Moran. Also on board was producer
Steve Nye, who oversaw the pop-flavoured "
Closer to Your Heart" and the ballad "
Almost Seems (Too Late to Turn)" both of which became hit singles. "Almost Seems" served as the
Children in Need charity single in 1985. In 1986, the band put out their first anthology album,
The Collection. In October 1987, Clannad worked with American producers
Russ Kunkel (drummer of
James Taylor's band) and
Greg Ladanyi on their next album,
Sirius. The album was given a contemporary pop-influenced sound and production, creating the impression that it was recorded in the US, although it was recorded in the UK and mixed in Los Angeles. In between their 1988 tour dates, the group scored three episodes of the BBC wildlife documentary series
Natural World about the
Atlantic Ocean, which were broadcast in January 1989. A soundtrack album of the score was released in 1989 as
Atlantic Realm by
BBC Records (reissued 1996 by BMG), and went to No. 41 in the UK. In addition, Clannad released a second anthology album,
Pastpresent, which focused on their output 1982-on, with two new tracks: "
The Hunter" and "World of Difference". The album was a commercial success, peaking at No. 5 in the UK, where it was certified platinum for over 300,000 copies sold. It was promoted with a sold-out UK tour and the release of a double A-side single, "
Hourglass" with "Theme from ''Harry's Game
", although "Hourglass" was not on the anthology. Clannad provided music for The Angel and the Soldier Boy
, an animated film narrated by actor Tom Conti. and Brennan wrote the music, which was performed by the band. A soundtrack with the same name was released in 1989. Also in 1989, Clannad won four Clio Awards for their music used in a US advertisement produced by . In 1996, the album reached gold certification in the US after selling 500,000 copies. The track won a Billboard
Music Award for World Music Song of the Year. "" was included on One World One Voice'', a charity compilation album intended to raise awareness of environmental issues. In 1990, Brídín re-joined the group for live performances, supplying additional instruments and backing vocals. Around this time a documentary on the band's 20-year history was produced, titled
Clannad in Donegal. In 1991, Clannad released a cover version of "
Both Sides Now" by
Joni Mitchell, as a duet with singer
Paul Young. The track had been recorded for the
Blake Edwards film
Switch. In late 1992, the group started working on material for their next album, , named after
an Irish mythological figure. wrote fifteen songs in his home studio, and he and picked out tracks to develop further and produced demos, then arranged the best parts into complete songs. By early 1996, Clannad had recorded and finished the next album,
Lore, but its release was delayed after the band tried to leave
BMG (owner of RCA Records since 1987) and sign a worldwide deal with
Atlantic Records, their US distributor. Released in March 1996, the album, which featured American drummer
Vinnie Colaiuta, reached No. 14 in the UK and debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard Top World Albums chart, displacing
Gipsy Kings after their 24-week run at the top. "" ('Brave Heart') was originally written for the
Mel Gibson film
Braveheart (1995), but did not make the final cut for its soundtrack. and also featured another of the younger siblings, Deirdre (Dee) Brennan, as a touring member of the band on percussion and backing vocals (along with guest musicians
Mel Collins,
Ian Parker, Ian Melrose, and Ray Fean, several of whom would collaborate on further Clannad and Máire/Moya Brennan albums). Also that year, Clannad received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Irish Recorded Music Association. In April 1996, the group split with their manager, Dave Kavanagh, after 14 years. Clannad returned to RCA/BMG in 1997 with the album
Landmarks. Deirdre Brennan reappeared as guest player on two tracks, "Let Me See" and "Of This Land"; in the latter, sang about Ireland's past and future. The track "" ('Long Ago') demonstrated the influences of Celtic history on the band's music. In 1999,
Landmarks won the group a
Grammy award for Best New Age Album. Also in 1999, the group wrote "What Will I Do" for the
Kevin Costner romantic-drama film
Message in a Bottle.
2000–present: hiatus, five-piece reunion, Nádúr, and final tour Between 1999 and 2007, Clannad were largely inactive while individual members pursued solo projects. started publicly using the spelling
Moya Brennan in 2002, despite having previously released a solo album titled . In 2003, BMG/RCA released the greatest hits anthology
The Best of Clannad: In a Lifetime, which peaked at No. 23 in the UK. In the following year, the Duggan twins recorded together for the first time outside of Clannad and released an album,
Rubicon, under the name
the Duggans. Clannad reunited for a one-off performance in 2006 during Moya Brennan's solo concert in
De Doelen, the Netherlands, which was dedicated to their parents, Leo and "Baba" Brennan. The version of the group included and Deirdre Brennan, performing five songs together in the second half of the concert. Leo and Baba , who were present, did not know that this was planned. The performance was greeted with standing ovations from the audience. In January 2007, the five original members of Clannad performed at the
Celtic Connections Festival in
Glasgow. In the following month, the group received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual
Meteor Ireland Music Awards in Dublin. In March 2008, Clannad began their first UK tour in over 12 years. In May 2008, Clannad's version of the traditional song "
Down by the Salley Gardens" was featured in the
GCSE listening paper for music from the
Oxford, Cambridge, and RSA Examinations exam board. Also in 2008, two anthologies were released:
Celtic Themes: The Very Best of Clannad, and
Beginnings: The Best of the Early Years. In 2009, Clannad were nominated for an IMA Award for Best Revival Act. In 2011, Brennan returned to the group as a full-time member for the first time since 1990. He said later that the most exciting thing about his return was writing songs with his brother again. In September 2013, Clannad released ('Nature') on the
ARC Music label, their first studio album since 1998. It was the band's final album before the death of Duggan in 2016. They began an international tour in October 2013 which started in Australia and New Zealand and continued through 2014. In 2016, Moya Brennan announced she had been diagnosed with
pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease that required her to rephrase the vocals to some songs. In February 2020, BMG announced the release of
In a Lifetime, a greatest-hits anthology to commemorate the band's fiftieth anniversary. Released on 3 April by BMG, the album was available on CD, vinyl, digital platforms, and a deluxe edition that contained over 100 tracks spanning their career. The set included two new tracks, "A Celtic Dream" and "Who Knows Where the Time Goes", their first recordings since Duggan's passing. The album coincided with the In a Lifetime Tour, their final tour as a group, which was to take place in the UK and North America between March and October 2020. and resumed in 2021. Noel Duggan died on 15 October 2022, aged 73. The band performed a farewell concert at the
3Arena in Dublin on 18 February 2023. The tour concluded in Seattle, Washington, on 9 October 2023, after which Clannad planned to disband, with individual members pursuing solo projects. In April 2026 Moya Brennan died, aged 73. ==Musical style and legacy==