Sheffield date for globally famous band Clannad on their farewell tour

World-famous Irish folk-rock band Clannad are bowing out with a farewell tour that calls in at Sheffield City Hall on Wednesday, March 4.
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Their record label BMG is also releasing the anthology In A Lifetime on March 13, a career-spanning collection from one of the most successful Irish bands ever.

The collection captures a body of work which spans 16 studio albums and 50 years.

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Clannad have also recorded two new songs exclusive to the box set with famed producer Trevor Horn.

The band Clannad, visiting Sheffield on their farewell tourThe band Clannad, visiting Sheffield on their farewell tour
The band Clannad, visiting Sheffield on their farewell tour

The first of these, A Celtic Dream, is described as inimitable Clannad, with a lyric referring to myths and legends from 10,000 years ago, and a chorus recalling the band’s early days in Donegal.

The second new song, Who Knows (Where The Time Goes) – the title is a nod to the famous Sandy Denny song of the same name – is about time and the challenges most of us face daily.

The name Clannad is derived from the word clan, meaning family in Gaelic.

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The band was formed in 1970 by siblings Moya, Ciarán and Pól Brennan and their uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan, who died in 2016.

For a short time later on it became a six-piece with the addition of Enya Brennan, who then went on to have her own successful solo career.

The band are acknowledged as having done more than any other group to take Irish music and language to a worldwide audience.

Fusing elements of traditional Irish music and more contemporary folk, new age and rock, they have created a beautifully unique and ethereal sound which combines haunting melodies and mesmerising vocals.

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After a decade which saw them release five hugely influential and groundbreaking albums, in 1982 Clannad reached wider recognition when they recorded Theme From Harry’s Game for the three-part TV drama depicting the troubles in Northern Ireland.

The song became a commercial success upon its release as a single, peaking at number two in Ireland and number five in the UK, winning an Ivor Novello award and later being used in the movie Patriot Games.

It remains the only UK hit single to be sung entirely in Irish.

In 1984 Clannad won a BAFTA for Best Original Television Music for their soundtrack Legend, becoming the first Irish band to win it, which featured music and songs the band were commissioned to score for the Robin Of Sherwood TV series.

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In 1993 their song I Will Find You was featured as the love theme to the movie Last Of The Mohicans.

Clannad have collaborated with a diverse range of artists but their biggest success was with Bono of U2.

A fan who declared singer Moya as “one of the greatest voices the human ear as ever experienced,” Bono duetted with her on Clannad’s 1985 hit single In A Lifetime. The song gives the new collection its title.

Clannad said: “We had discussed prior to our world tour in 2013-2015 whether it would be our farewell tour but since Pádraig passed we made the decision that our next tour would definitely be our last and we plan to make it a very special and memorable final journey.

“To accompany this journey we are very pleased to be releasing the In a Lifetime anthology, which we hope will leave our fans with a lasting musical legacy.”

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