The broadcasting legend, author and gaeilgeoir Manchán Magan has died at 55.
Born in 1970, the Dublin native achieved critical acclaim for his documentaries about travel, the environment and the Irish language.
Notably, his series No Béarla saw him travel around the country speaking only Irish - with varying degrees of success.
More recently, Crainn na hÉireann, about the trees of Ireland, was also positively received.
His books about the Irish language soared into the best seller list whenever they hit bookshops.
In an interview with RTÉ last month, Mr Magan spoke about his diagnosis with prostate cancer and his unique approach to death.
Manchán Magan speaking to members of the public inside a Bedouin tent from the United Arab Emirates on Bedouin Life at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Picture by:RollingNews.ie“It’s a lovely thing to know that I can plan my last few - is it months or years? We don’t know,” he said.
“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.
“So, I’d just be digging there, digging away, had little herbs and little flowers.
“I’d just be here in the spirit world; I’d just be communicating with them.
“It was just these loving voices; this voice of feeling that I have been put into this shell of a body for a certain amount of time.
“And I think this like white light, this loving source of white light and I’m here to play.
“But actually, if I go in deeper, it’s just me and just that loving white light.”
Mr Magan added that his views about the spirit world had made the news of his terminal diagnosis “a lot easier”.
“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 added.
“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.”
Manchán Magan. Picture by: Photocall Ireland. Reflecting on Mr Magan’s life and legacy, Newstalk Breakfast presenter Shane Coleman described him as an “absolute gentleman”.
“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,” he said.
“But he was always very generous in how he spoke back to me and he was very encouraging.”
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He also praised him as someone “who did his own thing”, defying the conventions of modern society.
“He kind of reminded me of someone from a different era, the lands of saints and scholars,” he 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.”
Main image: Manchan Magan. Picture by: Alamy.com.
