Manchán Magan is an Irish writer, traveller, author, and television programme maker.

Career

Magan has made over 70 travel documentaries focusing on issues of

world cultures The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

and

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, 12 of them packaged under the Global Nomad series with his brother Ruán Magan. He presented '' No Béarla'', a documentary series about travelling around Ireland speaking only Irish. He writes regularly for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' and presents the podcast/radio show 'The Almanac of Ireland', on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

He has written three books in Irish, ''Baba-ji agus TnaG'', ''Manchán ar Seachrán'' and ''Bí i nGrá''. His English travel books include ''Angels & Rabies: A Journey through the Americas'', ''Manchán's Travels: A Journey through India'', and ''Truck Fever: A Journey through Africa''. In 2009 he spent time as a writer in residence with the Irish Cultural Centre, at the Irish College in Paris. In 2020, Magan published ''Thirty Two Words for Field: Lost words of the Irish landscape.'' In 2021 he published the children's book ''Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Words for Nature'' with illustrations by Steve Doogan. And in 2022 his book ''Listen to the Land Speak'' was published by

Gill Books Gill is an independent publisher and distributor based in Dublin, Ireland. History In 1856, Michael Henry Gill, printer for Dublin University, purchased the publishing and bookselling business of James McGlashan, and the company was renamed M ...

. His television series include ''Crainn na hÉireann'', a 10-part series on the trees of Ireland, and ''An Fód Deireannach'', a four-part series for TG4 about Irish bogs and peatland.

Background

Magan was brought up in

Donnybrook, Dublin Donnybrook () is a district of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the southside (Dublin), southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district. It is home to the Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and wa ...

, he went to Mount Anville Montessori School before attending

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; , ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of Dublin 6. Ranelagh was originally a village called Cullenswood. It has a history of conflict, including the at ...

(he also spent one year in Colaiste Rhinne). He later studied Irish and history at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. Magan's family background was nationalist and closely associated with the foundation of the Irish State in that he is the grandson of Sheila Humphreys and great-grandnephew of The O'Rahilly. He has explored these connections in various documentaries for

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

and RTÉ. Magan stood unsuccessfully for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

in the Longford–Westmeath constituency in 2016. He built and lived in a strawbale house, which he removed and replaced with a mud and cement, grass-roofed house, in County Westmeath.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magan, Manchan 20th-century Irish travel writers Living people Irish documentary filmmakers Irish language activists 21st-century Irish travel writers RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ television presenters TG4 presenters Irish television presenters The Irish Times people People educated at Gonzaga College 1968 births Place of birth missing (living people) People from Donnybrook, Dublin Broadcasters from County Dublin Green Party (Ireland) candidates in Dáil elections