Moya Doherty

Moya Doherty
Born	Pettigo,County Donegal,Ulster,Ireland
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Spouse	John McColgan

Moya Doherty(born 1957, inPettigo,County Donegal,Ireland) is aDublin-raised Irish entrepreneur and the producer and co-founder ofRiverdance.

Early life

Doherty was born inPettigo,a village in the south-east ofCounty DonegalinUlster.While most of Pettigo is in County Donegal, a small part of the village, theTullyhommonarea, is inCounty Fermanagh.Both of her parents, Daniel and Patricia (néeMulhern), were primary school teachers fromDungloe,a small town inThe Rossesdistrict in the west of County Donegal.Her parents families, the Dohertys and the Mulherns, owned pubs in Dungloe.At the age of seven, she moved from Pettigo down toDublinwith 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 attendedManor House School,aCatholicsecondary school inRaheny.

Riverdance

Riverdanceis a worldwide acclaimed theatrical phenomenon, which premiered in Dublin'sPoint Theatrein February 1995.Riverdancehad started as a seven-minute interlude at the1994 Eurovision Song Contestin Dublin, commissioned by Moya Doherty, who was the show's Executive Producer.

Business interests

Doherty was chair of theRTÉ Board,the board of Irish public service broadcasterRTÉfrom 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 stationRadio Ireland(which later rebranded asToday FM). She is a member of the board of the Dublin Theatre Festival. She was formerly a member of the board of theAbbey Theatre.

Personal life

Doherty is married to the co-founder ofRiverdance,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 sonsand lived for many years on an extensive property in the Baily area ofHowthand, having sold the main property, retained a 3-bedroom house with private access.