Tributes – teachtaireachtaí omóis – are being paid to the popular scríbhneoir and broadcaster, Manchán Magan, a much-admired advocate for the Irish language and for living closer to nature, who has died aged 55 after a battle with prostate cancer.
Also known as a free-spirited traveller who chronicled those adventures for a wide audience, he was the great-grandnephew of Mícheál Seosamh Ó Rathaille, also known as The O’Rahilly, who was a founding member of the Irish Volunteers and a renowned participant in the 1916 Rising.
“Cúis mhór bhróin go bhfuil Manchán Magan ar shlí na fírinne,” dúirt Conradh na Gaeilge. “Ceannródaí fíor ar son na Gaeilge ab ea Manchán, & fágann a shaothar mar scríbhneoir, craoltóir & feachtasóir oidhreacht bhuan ina dhiaidh. Gabhann @CnaG comhbhrón ó chroí lena mhuintir go léir. Laoch ar lár 💚”.
He was the best-selling author of books which were released to popular and critical acclaim such as Thirty Two Words for Field and Ninety Nine Words for Rain – with the former being described as showing “levels of meticulous scrutiny and general understanding of what is in essence a difficult subject”.
He won admiration for the courage with which he faced his illness, telling RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor that he had no fear of death. “Now, I can’t say it’s a ride in the park. I can’t say there’s, you know, not times where waves of tears come over me, me and my partner, who I never talk about much, but obviously it’s so hard. She’s slightly younger than me and when I think about her being left, that’s what saddens me, that’s what breaks my heart.”
And he added: “No. For some reason I’m not scared, no. There’s the sadness. The sadness of thinking about my partner being alone. Luckily I don’t have kids, that’s a huge blessing. I’ve no fear of death.”
Journalist Harry McGee said today: “Scéal fíor brónach. Laoch na Gaeilge agus laoch spiorad an Domhain mór agus an nádúir imithe ar shlí na fírinne”, while Paidí Ó Lionáírd wrote: “Drochscéal. Fear maith eile imithe roluath. Suaimhneas síoraí go raibh aige.”
Ag cuimhniú air inniu ar Newstalk, rinne craoltóir Shane Coleman tagairt da chuid leabhair agus dúirt: “Fíor Ghaeil a ba é. Ní bheidh a leitheid arís ann”.
“He kind of reminded me of someone from a different era, the lands of saints and scholars,” the Newstalk host added. “He was so learned and erudite and spiritual. What I loved about him was something I really prize as I get older, he ploughed his own furrow, he danced to his own beat.”
RTÉ said that many of the programmes he made “were produced with his film-making brother Ruán for TG4 and RTÉ” including ‘No Béarla’ – a “documentary series about travelling around Ireland speaking only Irish”.
“He also made an acclaimed ten-part series, Crainn na hÉireann, and his most recent series programme this summer, Listen To The Land Speak for RTÉ One.”
One of the many initiatives he undertook was to preserve old words – sean focail Gaeilge – by bringing them to wider public attention – such as the “new dictionary project aims to safeguard coastal Irish words and the unique perspectives they provide” below.
He also documented Ireland’s Holy Wells and the myths and legends associated with same.
“Codladh go sámh Manchán Magan,” a dhúirt DeBarra’s folk club. “A brilliant writer, documentarian, folklorist and Irish language advocate. Another totem of Irish culture has passed. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam”.