I have a friend who really likes music like this and wanted to find some good picks for her. I was thinking that movie soudtracks would be a good place to look (LOTR, and Gladiator). Does anyone have any more specific recomendations? I do not know much about that particular genre of music and am quite lost.
Enya, my friend, Enya. Start off with a ‘best of’ CD; I started with *Paint the Sky With Stars*, particularly tracks 6 and 9.
~Ferry
PS-- Enya sings “May It Be” at the end of the LOTR:FOTR soundtrack.
Try:
Capercaille
Altan
The Poozies with Kate Rusby
The Bothy Band
Clannad
Natalie Macmaster is a Celtic-flavored violinist that might fit the bill - more folksy than new age-y, though.
One soundtrack your friend might enjoy is Ladyhawke - I believe Alan Parsons did the music, and it’s very listenable.
Does it have to be that new-agey sound? I found Afro-Celt Sound System, which is a mixture of Celtic woodwinds and African drumming on top of an electronica backbone.
She likes softer music.
Get her any album by Runrig. Recovery, for preference, but Play Gaelic, Once In A Lifetime or The Highland Connection are as good.
Remember - if it doesn’t have a hoginn o horinn o in it, it’s not really Gaelic. 
Can’t help you then. Just thought I’d suggest it.
Okay here we go…
From your post I’m guessing you want something ethereal(new-agey) with a female voice singing gaelic-like melodies? Enya is indeed a good place to start, but there are others out there.
My favorite performer of that description is Loreena McKennit. Check out “Dante’s Prayer”, “The Highwaymen”, “The Dark Night of the Soul”, or “The Lady of Shallot.”
The Poozies, as koeeoaddi mentioned above, are also good. I only have one album, Infinite Blue, but I absolutely love two songs on that album(“Neptune” and “Come all Ye Lonely Lovers”)
Aoife Ni Fhearraigh is very good and may be what you’re looking for. She sings the end song for the game Metal Gear Solid(“The Best is Yet to Come”). Also try “Seacht Suailci na Maighdine Muire” and “Mo Ghra Thu Salm”.
Maire Brennan is also good, she sings christian-themed celtic music. I have her album Perfect Time, and if you aren’t daunted that many of the lyrics have a religious theme, you’ll find she has a nice voice.
I don’t have any of their albums on hand, but also check out Cherish the Ladies. Hope this helps.
She might try some of Loreena McKennitt’s music.
(I’m tempted to suggest The Pogues, but that would be mean . . . 
)
Runrig? New-agey? I don’t think so.
Not knocking them, but Runrig is more like AOR sung in Gaelic.
AOR? You have heard Recovery, haven’t you?
Try Ariane Lydon. She plays guitar, keyboard, and Celtic harp, on both traditional and original tunes. Very sweet and relaxing, a very Celtic sound, and she has an amazing voice like no one else I have ever heard. Many massage therapists and the like use her music in their work.
Last I checked, there were sound samples on her site. I would say that The Open Harp is her most new-agey CD, and it’s also all instrumental. My favorite is Lady of the Green. She is currently mixing her latest CD.
She has played with Cherish the Ladies, and used to tour with her then-husband, Jem Moore, who plays the hammered dulcimer like you’ve never heard, also very Celtic (but his music is much livelier than Ariane’s mellow sound).
And she is also a very dear friend to Mr. S and me. So if you order a CD from her, tell her that Phyllis and Dottie’s mom and dad sent you!
</shameless shill>
I don’t know how Gaelic it really sounds, but you might want to look into something by Dead Can Dance. One of the duo in that group is Lisa Gerard, who did a lot of the vocals on the Gladiator soundtrack. Her voice is really amazing.
And I second the recommendation for Loreena McKennitt. Her cd “Book of Secrets” is honestly one of the best cd’s I own. Start to finish, it’s excellent.
Speaking of Loreena McKennitt, try the soundtrack to the mini-series “Mists of Avalon”
And the soundtrack to the Myst games.
And of people who can’t spell the name properly. 
Another vote for Loreena McKennitt here. Personally, i prefer The Mask and Mirror to The Book of Secrets, but they are both excellent. An earlier album, The Visit, is also very good, and is more fully focused on Celtic music, without the North African and Middle Eastern influences of her later work. Personally, however, i prefer the later stuff.
I’m quite fond of Lunasa. I listening to The Merry Sisters of Fate right now–perhaps not new-agey, but good Celtic sound–lots of pipes, flutes and whistles.
Medwyn Goodall probably has something in that line.