Moya Doherty (born 1957, in Pettigo, County Donegal, Ireland) is a Dublin-raised Irish entrepreneur and the producer and co-founder of Riverdance.

Early life

Doherty was born in Pettigo, a village in the south-east of County Donegal in Ulster.^[1][2] While most of Pettigo is in County Donegal, a small part of the village, the Tullyhommon area, is in County Fermanagh. Both of her parents, Daniel and Patricia (née Mulhern), were primary school teachers from Dungloe, a small town in The Rosses district in the west of County Donegal.^[1][2][3] Her parents families, the Dohertys and the Mulherns, owned pubs in Dungloe.^[3] At the age of seven, she moved from Pettigo down to Dublin with her parents; she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years in Dublin.^[1][2] Her parents later moved back to Dungloe when they retired.^[3] She has two sisters, Niamh and Nuala, and two brothers, Pádraig and Seán.^[2] Doherty attended Manor House School, a Catholic secondary school in Raheny.^[4]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Business interests

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

Personal life

Doherty is married to the co-founder of Riverdance, John McColgan, who she married in 1986,^[2] and she is regarded as one of the wealthiest women in Ireland, with an estimated fortune of €45 million.^[5] McColgan and Doherty have two sons^[6] and lived for many years on an extensive property in the Baily area of Howth and, having sold the main property, retained a 3-bedroom house with private access.^{[citation needed]}

References