Broadcaster and writer Manchán Magan remembered as ‘absolute gentleman’ and ‘dreamer’

Tributes have poured in for acclaimed writer and documentary maker Manchán Magan, who passed away at the age of 55.

Manchán achieved critical acclaim for his documentaries covering the Irish language, travel and the Irish language, with him being a Gaeilgeóir being at the forefront of his books and documentaries.

With his books on the Irish language topping the bestseller list, and his documentary series No Béarla seeing him travel around the country speaking only Irish, Manchán was one of the most acclaimed authors of his generation — with him revealing in an interview with RTÉ last month that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of prostate cancer.

Speaking on his diagnosis, Manchán said that he didn’t feel despair or self-pity surrounding his remaining days, saying ‘It’s a lovely thing to know that I can plan my last few – is it months or years? We don’t know.

‘We might get a year or two; it’ll definitely get another few months. I wasn’t great about being in this world — I was just a dreamer. So, my Mum and my Dad recognised that and they gave me a little corner in the garden. 

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‘So, I’d just be digging there, digging away, had little herbs and little flowers. I’d just be there in the spirit world, I’d just be communicating with them.’

‘I can’t say it’s a ride in the park, I can’t say there’s not times where waves of tears come over me and my partner,’ he said of his diagnosis. ‘Obviously, it’s so hard, she’s slightly younger than me. When I think of her being left, that’s what saddens me, that’s what breaks my heart.’

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Ryan Tubridy led tributes to Manchán on social media, writing on his Instagram ‘desperately sad to hear that Manchán Mangan has died at 55. A writer, broadcaster, and a dreamer. His passion, curiosity and love of Ireland impressed every time we met. My condolences to his family. RIP.’

Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman described Manchán as an ‘absolute gentleman,’ saying on Friday ‘I used to try and talk to him as Gaeilge; his first language was Irish, I think he didn’t speak English until he was two or three.’

‘But he was always very generous in how he spoke back to me and he was very encouraging… He was so learned and erudite and spiritual.’

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.