Irish sisters follow different musical and spiritual paths   Enya's sister, Máire Brennan, discusses, her faith, Ireland and her first Christian CD.   By Annette Wierstra and Rob McKinney    Chances are you’ve heard the voice. Her music has graced the movie soundtracks of Titanic, The Last of the Mohicans and Patriot Games, and a television commercial for Volkswagen’s Passat. But you may be surprised at who it belongs to.    Many would say the ethereal, melodic sound was that of Enya, the reigning queen of New Age music — but it’s not. Instead it belongs to her sister, Máire Brennan.    At one time the two sisters sang together in the Irish band, Clannad. Máire (pronounced Moy-ah), along with two brothers and two uncles, formed the Celtic group 28 years ago. But during the early ‘80s Enya, the younger of the two, left the group to pursue a solo career. She took with her the group’s sound and applied it to what was then a relatively new genre of music, known as New Age.    Since that time Enya has achieved worldwide popularity and commercial success. In doing so she’s also spawned a number of imitators. But Brennan is not one of them. She rejects the New Age label for Clannad. “We’re put in that category because they don’t know where else to put us,” she says.    Now, after much prayer and waiting upon the Lord, Brennan has recently released her first Celtic Christian solo album.    “I’ve been a Christian for 10 years now. I’ve prayed often about whether it would be right for me to do something more than I was doing with Clannad, if I should do a Christian album,” says Brennan. She’s convinced the time is now, hence the title choice, Perfect Time.    “I hope that with this album I can reach people who are into Celtic music,” she says. And that’s a sizable number. Enya and Clannad together have had sales of more than 40 million units.    Celtic music is deeply rooted in the traditions of Irish culture. For many it conjures up images of druids and pagan religions but that’s not the case according to Brennan who loves to talk of Ireland’s rich Christian history.    “Ireland brought Christianity to all of Europe after the Dark Ages. This country was the land of saints and scholars,” says Brennan, who also points out that at one time 10% of the country’s population were missionaries.    The new project combines Brennan’s passion for Ireland with her passion for God. Several songs on the album blend Gaelic and English Lyrics, while two of the tracks are sung entirely in Gaelic.    “The Celtic language, the Gaelic, is so spiritual. This language is just soaked with spiritual Christianity,” she says. “My little girl goes to school and the first thing the kids say in the morning is ‘God be with you.’ That’s ‘hello’ in the Gaelic language.”    The first single, ”Heal this Land,” is about Ireland. “It’s really a prayer to help this country heal itself,” says Brennan. “Song of David,” also on the album, is a Gaelic translation of Psalm 67. It was recorded in her mother’s church in Donegal, Ireland with church’s choir.    Brennan hopes that Clannad’s popularity will draw fans from outside of the Christian faith to her Celtic Christian album. “I would like to think God is going to use me to reach non-Christians. There are a lot of people out there who don’t know about Jesus and His love, and what He can give you,” she says. “I just want to share that with people and ask them, ‘Do you know how wonderful it is to be a Christian?’” [LLN-Online] [Adopt-a-Block] [Newsbriefs][Event Calendar] [Lifestyles] [Juke Box] [Cover to Cover] [Movieguide][Casting the Net] [Viewpoints] [General Info] [Rates & Sizes][Marketplace/Classifieds] [Volunteer Ops] [Writing Guidelines] [Contact Us] [Subscribe][Archives][Good News] [About Us][Links]