Moya Doherty (born 1957, in Pettigo,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, Ireland) is a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-raised Irish entrepreneur and the producer and co-founder of ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

''.

Early life

Doherty was born in Pettigo, a village in the south-east of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. 'Moya Doherty - The Rhythm of Irishness' (''Donegal.ie'', 16 September 2022). https://donegal.ie/en/latest-news/2022/September/moya-doherty-the-rhythm-of-irishness 'A Life In Brief: Moya Doherty' (''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', 29 September 2013). https://www.independent.ie/life/life-in-brief/29617114.html While most of Pettigo is in County Donegal, a small part of the village, the Tullyhommon area, is in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

. Both of her parents, Daniel and Patricia (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Mulhern), were primary school teachers from Dungloe, a small town in

The Rosses The Rosses (officially known by its Irish language name, ''Na Rosa''; in the genitive case ''Na Rosann'') is a traditional 'district' in the west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. The Rosses has ...

district in the west of County Donegal. 'Huge crowds expected for Moya Doherty Donegal Person of Year award' ('' Derry People - Donegal News'', 6 March 2015). https://donegalnews.com/huge-crowd-expected-moya-doherty-gets-donegal-person-of-year-award/ Her parents families, the Dohertys and the Mulherns, owned pubs in Dungloe. At the age of seven, she moved from Pettigo down to

with her parents; she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years in Dublin. Her parents later moved back to Dungloe when they retired. She has two sisters, Niamh and Nuala, and two brothers, Pádraig and Seán. Doherty attended Manor House School, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school in

Raheny Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 AD (Mervyn Archdall (Irish antiquary), Mervyn Archdall). The district ...

''Riverdance''

''Riverdance'' is a worldwide acclaimed theatrical phenomenon, which premiered in Dublin's Point Theatre in February 1995. ''Riverdance'' had started as a seven-minute interlude at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, commissioned by Moya Doherty, who was the show's Executive Producer.

Business interests

Doherty was chair of the RTÉ Board, the board of Irish public service broadcaster

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

from 2014 until 2022. She was previously a director of television production company Tyrone Productions. She was a founding director of the independent national commercial radio station Radio Ireland (which later rebranded as Today FM). She is a member of the board of the Dublin Theatre Festival. She was formerly a member of the board of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

Personal life

Doherty is married to the co-founder of ''Riverdance'', John McColgan, who she married in 1986, and she is regarded as one of the wealthiest women in Ireland, with an estimated fortune of €45 million. McColgan and Doherty have two sons and lived for many years on an extensive property in the Baily area of

Howth Howth ( ; ; ) is a peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes the ...

and, having sold the main property, retained a 3-bedroom house with private access.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Moya 1957 births Businesspeople from County Donegal 20th-century Irish people People educated at Manor House School, Raheny Performers of Irish dance 21st-century Irish people Living people People from Pettigo