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Writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan has died of prostate cancer at the age of 55.
A self-described “oddball loner,” Magan built a huge reputation as a writer, broadcaster, and Irish Language activist contributing seminal texts such as Thirty-Two Words for Field and Listen to the Land Speak which captured the popular imagination and helped stimulate a revived interest in Irish language and culture.
He was also a man of principle, forsaking air travel and building his own sustainable home in woodlands in Westmeath. In so doing he sacrificed the lucrative career and lifestyle of the international travel writer.
Raised in Donnybrook, Dublin, he attended Gonzaga College and later studied Irish and history at University College Dublin. His family background was deeply nationalist. He was the grandson of Sheila Humphreys and great grandnephew of The O'Rahilly, a hero of the 1916 Uprising, connections he explored in various documentaries for TG4 and RTÉ. He also stood for the Green Party in the Longford–Westmeath constituency in the 2016 Irish general election.
In Aug 2025, he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of prostate cancer which according to his website would ”shorten his life to between a matter of months or years.” Sadly, it turned out to be the former. He will be greatly missed.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
Image credit: Michael Keegan Dolan