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==Early life== [[File:Hotel, beach, and shipwreck south of R257 at Bunbeg - geograph.org.uk - 1159653.jpg|thumb|right|Enya's home area of [[Gweedore]], pictured from above in 2008.]] Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin was born in the Dore area of Gaoth Dobhair ([[Gweedore]]) in [[County Donegal]] on 17 May 1961.<ref name="Larkin2011">{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&pg=PA972|year=2011|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8|page=972}}</ref> She is the sixth of nine children in the [[Clannad#Brennan family|Brennan family of musicians]], born to Máire "Baba" and Leopold "Leo" Brennan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicandmeaning.com/site/enya_ksca_2.html|title=Enya interview on KSCA-FM (Transcript) – Part 2|publisher=Musicandmeaning|year=1996}}</ref> In 1968, the couple took ownership of a [[pub]] in Meenaleck, Co. Donegal, naming it [[Leo's Tavern]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=Leo's Tavern|url=https://leostavern.com/|access-date=2023-09-29}}</ref> Leo Brennan was the leader of an [[Irish showband]] named the Slieve Foy Band, before performing solo. Baba Brennan (née Duggan) is said to have [[Spain|Spanish]] roots with ancestors who settled on [[Tory Island]]<ref name="billboard25Nov95" /> and she was an [[amateur]] musician who played with the Slieve Foy Band.<ref name="wsj2016" /><ref name="allmusicbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/enya-mn0000988471/biography|title=Enya – Artist biography|website=AllMusic|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|access-date=3 January 2016}}</ref> Enya's mother also taught music at [[Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair|Gweedore Community School]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Gaoth Dobhair teacher hopes for Euro vote on Friday|first=Michelle Nic|last=Phaidin|date=12 February 2012|access-date=25 March 2016|work=Donegal Democrat|url=http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/arts-culture-entertainment/37099/Gaoth-Dobhair-teacher-hopes-for-Euro.html}}</ref> [[File:Crolly - Leo's Tavern - geograph.org.uk - 1174434.jpg|thumb|left|Leo's Tavern, the pub owned by Enya's family, currently under the proprietorship of her younger brother Bartley.<ref name=":7" />]] Gweedore is a [[Gaeltacht]] region, where the [[Irish language]], also known as [[Gaeilge|Gaelic]], is primarily spoken. Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, her name, is [[anglicisation|anglicised]] as Enya Patricia Brennan,<ref name="Abjorensen2017">{{cite book|last=Abjorensen|first=Norman|title=Historical Dictionary of Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZyrDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163|year=2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0215-2|page=163}}</ref> with "Enya" being the phonetic spelling of how "Eithne" is pronounced in the Donegal [[Ulster Irish|Ulster dialect]]. The name Brennan was accidentally added to Leo's name at his [[birth registration]] in 1925; his family name was Hardin; Leo used [[Brennan (surname)|Brennan]] for the surname of his children. In Irish, the surname is "Ó Braonáin"/"Ní" Bhraonáin - corresponding to "son of"/"daughter of Brennan".<ref name="smashhits1988">{{Cite journal |date=19 October 1988 |title=Personal File: Enya |url=http://enya.sk/2015/11/do-parsnips-scream-when-you-chop-them/ |url-status=dead |journal=Smash Hits |volume=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331122355/http://enya.sk/2015/11/do-parsnips-scream-when-you-chop-them/ |archive-date=31 March 2016 |quote=...I actually left school I was 17 and I went straight onto studying music at college and after a year of that I started touring with Clannad, so I’ve never had a nine to five job. I did want to be a music teacher at one time. It just didn’t happen though...}}</ref> Leo's father Harry Hardin was a pianist, and he died performing on stage. Enya's paternal grandmother, Minna Lenehan, played the [[Drum kit|drums]]. They were both believed to have been born in England. Regarding Baba's parents, Enya's maternal grandfather, Aodh (anglicised as Hugh; affectionately addressed as Hughie or "Gog") was the headmaster of the primary school in Dore; her grandmother, Mháire Duggan (anglicised as Mary; née Gillespie) was a teacher. Aodh was also the founder of the Aisteoiri Ghaodobhair, the [[Amharclann Ghaoth Dobhair|Gweedore Theatre]] company.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Leo Brennan: Accordionist played key role in musical formation of Enya and Clannad|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/leo-brennan-accordionist-played-key-role-in-musical-formation-of-enya-and-clannad-1.2698088|access-date=2024-04-08|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref name="irishroots">{{Cite journal|last=Brennan|first=Enya|date=September 2010|title=Enya recalls a special day that would change her life forever|url=https://celticmusicfan.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/enya-in-her-own-words/|journal=Irish Roots|volume=75}}</ref><ref name="wsj2016" /> Enya has described her upbringing as 'very quiet and happy'.<ref name="tracks1989" /> She mentioned that 'the house I grew up in was on my grandparents’ property, behind their house. Ours was built in the 1950s and wasn’t very big.'<ref name="wsj2016" /> Regarding her position in the family, Enya said 'it was difficult to be heard, but I was very comfortable with that because I was able to be myself, able to be let alone.'<ref name="Petersen_ivw" /> She also acknowledged that there was 'continual hustle and bustle and crying and chaos' amongst the nine siblings. Their maternal grandparents and aunt were quite involved with the siblings' upbringing at home, as Baba and Leo were travelling with the showband; Enya recalled 'they toured a great deal, mostly in Ireland and Scotland. When they did, my grandmother and my mother’s sister took care of us.'<ref name="wsj2016" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-15 |title=Ireland's Enya on How Life by the Sea Influenced Her Music |url=http://enya.sk/2016/03/enya-wall-street-journal/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=EnyaBlues |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last=Sanghera|first=Sathnam|date=2005|title=Tea with the FT: She's a princess, sort of|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7ca5daba-5ca6-11da-af92-0000779e2340|access-date=2024-03-12|website=Ft.com}}</ref> Enya's songs "On Your Shore" and "Smaointe" (first released as the Orinoco Flow B-side track "Smaoitím") are dedicated to both her maternal grandmother and grandfather. Along with the siblings' enjoyment of their childhood spent in Gweedore, they also grew up amid [[the Troubles]]. Enya recalls that when her family visited shops in [[Derry]] for instance, 'you’d be checked by people standing with guns', and even speaking in Irish in Derry was 'pinpointing where you came from, and it was too political at the time. Whereas for [Enya and siblings] it was our first language, and we didn’t see anything wrong with it.'<ref name="Petersen_ivw" /> Enya took part in her first singing competitions at the annual [[Feis Ceoil]] music festival between the ages of three and five years old.<ref name="irishroots" /><ref name="wsj2016" /> She also participated in pantomimes at the Gweedore Theatre, as seen in an early group picture where [[Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh]] was also present [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/903112531521841162/ .] Enya often recalls that at three-and-a-half years of age, she played the character [[Little Red Riding Hood]] on stage, singing a song. At the age of four, Enya began piano lessons and was learning English throughout primary school. In 2008, Enya described her early studies, having 'to do school work and then travel to a neighbouring town for piano lessons, and then more school work. I remember my brothers and sisters playing outside and I would be inside playing the piano, this one big book of [[Scale (music)|scales]], practising them over and over.'<ref name="smashhits1988" /><ref name="telegraph2008">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3562058/Enya-talks-about-her-new-album-And-Winter-Came.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3562058/Enya-talks-about-her-new-album-And-Winter-Came.html|archive-date=11 January 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|first=Jacques|last=Peretti|title=Enya talks about her new album And Winter Came|date=12 October 2008|access-date=25 November 2012|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> One particular memory of a very early public performance of singing at age five was recounted by Enya in her 2016 [[The Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]] article. At the theatre, contestants would 'perform two songs, starting with a slow one and finishing with a fast one [...] songs we were taught in [[primary school]].' Enya's mother was the pianist, and provided the starting notes for each person performing. By mistake, Enya 'began with the fast song. I didn’t realize my error until I saw my mother’s frown. I stopped singing and covered my mouth. There was silence, followed by laughter.' Enya then 'sang the right song. When I finished, there was a pause and I sang the fast song again. I won the contest [...] determined to get it right, and the audience’s laughter didn’t deter me.'<ref name="wsj2016" /> A large part of Enya's early musical background involved singing choral music alongside siblings in their mother's [[choir]] (Cór Mhuire) at the now destroyed St Mary's church in [[Derrybeg]]. The siblings' father played the [[accordion]] and [[Big band|big band]] style on the [[saxophone]], particularly [[Glenn Miller]]-type songs. Beyond the music she grew up around, Enya was aware of many artists of the 1960s and early '70s, and enjoyed watching [[Musical film|musical films]]. In a radio interview with [[Elaine Page]] in November 2008, Enya shared a selection of favourite songs from musicals. She said of ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar (album)|Jesus Christ Superstar]]'', 'it was such an original piece of music in 1970 [...] played in my house every single day, and myself and my sisters would sing word for word.'<ref>{{Citation|title=Elaine Paige - Enya interview - Essential Musicals of Enya; timestamp 27:58| date=18 September 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS0ZKNWNw-s|access-date=2023-11-26}}</ref> Enya's brother Ciarán also mentioned that when the siblings were younger, before having a tape recorder, as Moya and Enya sang, he would play piano, 'give them two-part [[Harmony|harmonies]] and say, "You go into the kitchen, you go into the bathroom" and they were fascinated by this because musically it was very melodic, even though they wouldn't finally hear their parts until they sang together.'<ref name=":0" /> In addition to her musical endeavours, Enya also took part in local events, such as the inaugural Gaeltacht Festival in Gweedore, June 1970. At the age of nine, Enya participated in the Cailín Gaelach (Irish Girl) competition, which judged contestants on 'their fluency of spoken Irish, involvement in social and cultural activities in their parish and community, and appearance and deportment.' The competition was filmed and published in the [[RTÉ Archives]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaeltacht Festival Gweedore |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2020/0605/1145667-gaeltacht-festival-gweedore/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=RTÉ Archives |at=[Eithne appears on video thumbnail, at 0:53–1:02, again at 5:55 - 6:19] |language=Irish}}</ref> From the age of 11, Enya attended a [[convent]] boarding school in [[Milford, County Donegal|Milford]], Milford College,<ref name="irishroots" /><ref name="verybestofenya-nicky" /> run by the [[Sisters of Loreto]];<ref name="HonDoc_Cit">{{Cite book|last=Ó Muircheartaigh|first=Iognaid|url=https://www.nui.ie/college/docs/citations/2007/nuigHonCon07/enya.pdf|title=Address on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa|publisher=The [[National University of Ireland]] ([[University of Galway]])|year=2007|location=Galway, Ireland}}</ref> Enya's education there was paid for by her grandfather.<ref name="wsj2016">{{cite news |last=Brennan |first=Enya |date=15 March 2016 |title=Ireland's Enya on How Life by the Sea Influenced Her Music |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/irelands-enya-on-how-life-by-the-sea-influenced-her-music-1458056146 |archive-url=http://enya.sk/2016/03/enya-wall-street-journal/ |archive-date=15 March 2016 |access-date=9 February 2025 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref><ref name="billboard25Nov95" /> The boarding school, now Loreto Community School, was where Enya developed a taste for classical music, art, Latin, and [[Watercolor painting|watercolour painting]].<ref name="billboard25Nov95" /> She said, 'It was devastating to be torn away from such a large family but it was good for my music.'<ref name="smashhits1988" /> Enya finished boarding school at age 17 towards the end of the 1970s, and she spent a year at college studying classical music. She previously saw herself becoming a piano teacher, as both her mother and grandmother had done, and gave piano lessons for a brief time in the early 1980s. This later evolved into composing and performing her own music.<ref name="smashhits1988" /> Enya states that 'music was never far from my mind but contrary to popular belief my ambitions were in no way connected to those of my family, as I knew I wanted to have my own career and make my own mark.'<ref name="irishroots" /> Enya has noted that she 'was always quiet, even as a child, so there has always been an air of mystery around me' also mentioning that 'at school, they’d always say, "oh, we never know what Eithne’s thinking or what she’ll say next".'<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=2012-06-25 |title=Queen of the castle |url=http://enya.sk/2012/06/queen-of-the-castle/ |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=EnyaBlues |language=en-GB}}</ref>
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