Ruán Magan (born 1968) is an Irish director, producer, writer and creator whose work in drama, documentary, theatre and major stadium events has been recognised with over 40 international industry awards and has reached audiences of millions around the world. Projects include ''Dunhuang – Mysteries of the Sands'' (IFA/Tencent), ''Pearl Harbor – The Heroes Who Fought Back'' (Discovery)'', 1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' (RTE, APT), ''The World Meeting of Families Concert'' hosted for Pope Francis and ''

The Men Who Built America ''The Men Who Built America'' (also known as ''The Innovators: The Men Who Built America'' in some international markets) is an eight-hour, four-part miniseries docudrama which was originally broadcast on the History Channel in autumn 2012, and o ...

'' (History Channel).

Early life

Born in Dublin, Magan was raised in a traditionally nationalist family closely associated with the foundation of the Irish State, as the grandson of Sighle Humphreys and great-grandnephew of

The O'Rahilly , birth_date = , birth_place = Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland , death_date = , death_place = Dublin, Ireland , resting_place = Glasnevin Cemetery , nationality = Irish - British subject ...

. As a boy, he was educated at

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 Irela ...

. He then studied History of Art and Archaeology in

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(1988–89) but did not complete his degree. He began his career in the film business, working as an assistant director and location manager on ''

Far and Away ''Far and Away'' is a 1992 American epic Western romantic adventure drama film directed by Ron Howard from a screenplay by Bob Dolman and a story by Howard and Dolman. It stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. This was the last cinematography cre ...

'', ''3 Joes'', ''

The Devil's Own ''The Devil's Own'' is a 1997 American action thriller film starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, with Rubén Blades, Natascha McElhone, Julia Stiles, Margaret Colin, and Treat Williams in supporting roles. It was the final film directed by Ala ...

'', '' Bogwoman'' and ''

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

''.

Career

Television

Magan directed and filmed his first documentary in 1996 featuring his brother, the writer

Manchán Magan 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 and globalisation, 12 of them packaged under the Global Nomad series w ...

, beginning a long collaboration during which the brothers made over 60 documentaries filmed across the planet. The series covered themes of human history, philosophy, progress and life and compared the human experience of cultures and people the world over. The brothers received the golden award for services to the Irish language from the Directors Guild for their work. He produced work in the United States including the Emmy-winning series ''

'', telling the story of Vanderbilt, Canergie and their fellow "robber-barons," ''Pearl Harbor - The Heroes Who Fought Back,'' ''Sacred Sites'', a series exploring the mysteries of the ancient world and The ''Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut'', a film that examines the mysterious deaths of 57 railway workers in the 1850s. In 2003, he filmed the story of

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Jean ...

's first performance in China's Great Hall of the People. As producer and editor, Magan has collaborated widely including with human rights activist,

Deeyah Khan Deeyah Khan ( ur, , , born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the ...

, as she worked for seven years producing her documentary film, '' Banaz - A Love Story'' and with Mark McLoughlin in the making of ''Blood Rising'' and ''Outsider''. He created documentary projects exploring Irish history. Among these, ''On God's Mission, Lifers'' and ''The Nazarene'' examine the experience and effects of Irish missionaries and NGOs in Africa, South America, and Asia. He directed the drama-documentaries ''Waterloo's Warriors'' and ''Death or Canada'' which explore the participation of Irish soldiers in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

and the experience of migrants fleeing the famine for Canada during the Great Famine 1847. He collaborated with broadcaster

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

making two documentaries, ''My Father’s War'' revealing the terrible experiences of Irish soldiers during World War I and ''Last Orders'', which charts the rise and fall of the Irish Christian Brothers and the effects of child abuse scandals in Ireland. Magan has written and directed two documentary series and feature-length documentaries examining Ireland's struggle for independence from 1913 to 1923. Both ''1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' and ''The Irish Revolution''. ''1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' reached audiences of over 40 million people around the world. Magan wrote, produced and directed the acclaimed and multi-award-winning documentary feature, ''The Hunger'', narrated by

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

, and produced in collaboration with

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

. It tells the heartrending story of the great famine of the 1840s, which caused the deaths of 100,000 people in Europe and over a million people in Ireland and the emigration of 2 million people to the US, Canada, Britain and Australia between 1845 and 1855. ''The Hunger'' has aired coast to coast in America on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, in Ireland on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

, across Europe on

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

and in China on XiGua. ''Steps of Freedom'', a major dance and entertainment documentary film, released in 2021, tells the extraordinary story of how

Irish dance Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vario ...

rose from being the traditional dance of the people to become a global phenomenon that has reached audiences across the world.

Drama

In 2019, Magan collaborated with Tencent and IFA Media Beijing as writer and director of ''Dunhuang - Edge of the World'', a 5 part series that tells the 1000-year history of the

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

frontier post,

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Dunhuang was a major ...

. Nominated for the Asian Academy Awards and featuring an all star cast, the series reached audiences of 50 million per episode on

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...

. Magan directed the pilot episode for the long-running true crime investigation

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

series ''Redrum''. The series avoids traditional mystery programming by starting the stories at the scene of the crimes and working backward to reveal the killers. In 2016, Magan directed the award-winning comedy-drama series, ''Wrecking the Rising'', starring

Peter Coonan Peter Coonan (born 1984) is an Irish actor, known for his role as Fran Cooney in the RTÉ One series '' Love/Hate'', for which he won Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Television at the 11th Irish Film & Television Awards. In 2011, he played ...

and Eoin McDonnell. This irreverent comedy series charting the adventures of feckless time-travelling amateur historians has been selected by the Irish Department of Education to be part of the Irish secondary school curriculum. Magan directed the Irish-language film, ''Éoinín na nÉan'' (2015) and the multi-award-winning short film, ''Angel''. He has written several screenplays including ''The Noticer'' (2015), ''No Fury'' (2019) and, with writer Mark Doherty, ''The Trouble with Charlie'' (2019). Magan is set to produce ''Devil In The Feet'', a cinema-documentary revealing the origins of Irish dance, due for international release in 2021.

Theatre and stadium events

Collaborating with Professor Chris Fitzpatrick, Magan wrote and directed the experimental play, ''And Spring Shall Come''. In 2018, Magan was Creative Director of the ''

World Meeting of Families The World Meeting of Families is a gathering of the Roman Catholic Church that has occurred every three years since 1994. It is organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, which "promotes the pastoral care of families, protects their r ...

'', a music, song, and dance show held in

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

in Dublin to celebrate the visit of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

to Ireland featuring

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

Shaun Davey Shaun Davey (born 18 January 1948) is an Irish composer. Early years Shaun Davey was born in Belfast in 1948 and attended Rockport School in County Down. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in the history of Art in 1971. He then took a ...

, and a choir of a thousand. The event featured 1,500 performers and played to a record-breaking full house and television audiences around the world. He fulfilled a similar role, as Creative Director of the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

's 1916 Commemoration show, ''Laochra''. In recent years, he has made a series of short films in collaboration with Irish state bodies and the

Department of the Taoiseach The Department of the Taoiseach ( ga, Roinn an Taoisigh) is the government department of the Taoiseach, the title in Ireland for the head of government.Article 13.1.1° and Article 28.5.1° of the Constitution of Ireland. The latter provision re ...

. They includ
''This Is Ireland
'
''Here We Live
', an
Ireland’s campaign video for a UN Security Council seat

Selected awards and honours

* Delhi International Film Festival (2020) for ''The Irish Revolution'' * Prix Europa (2019) for ''The Irish Revolution'' * Accolade Award (2018) for ''Sacred Sites'' * Programming Excellence Award, American Public TV (2016) for ''1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' * Silver Sabre, World Military Film Festival (2016) for ''1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' * Irish Film and Television Academy Award (2016) for ''1916 – The Irish Rebellion'' * New York Film festival, Gold Award, World Media Festival (2015) for ''Waterloo’s Warriors'' * World Religious Film Festival (2014) for ''Lifers'' * Radharc Award (2014) for ''Lifers'' * Outstanding Contribution Award from the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (2013) * Emmy Nomination Best Documentary (2013) for ''The Men Who Built America'' * Irish Film and Television Academy Award (2013) for ''The Radharc Squad'' * Milan International Film Festival (2013) for ''Angel'' * Best Drama, Fastnet Film Festival (2012) for ''Angel'' * Overall Winner, Fastnet Film Festival (2012) for ''Angel'' * Gemini Awards (2010) for ''Death or Canada'' * Irish Film and Television Academy Award (2007) for The Pope's Children

References

External links

Official website
*
Screen Directors Guild Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magan, Ruan 1968 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Irish documentary filmmakers Irish documentary film directors Irish film directors People educated at Gonzaga College Alumni of University College Dublin Theatre people from Dublin (city) Film people from Dublin (city)