Manchán Magan – författare

Our ancestors developed a uniquely nature-focused society, centred on esteemed poets, seers, monks, healers and wise women who were deeply connected to the land. They used this connection to the cycles of the natural world – from which we are increasingly dissociated – as an animating force in their lives. In this illuminating new book, Manchán Magan sets out on a journey, through bogs, across rivers and over mountains, to trace these ancestor’s footsteps. He uncovers the ancient myths that have shaped our national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia – from ice ages through to famines and floods. Here, the River Shannon is a goddess, and trees and their life-sustaining root systems are hallowed. See the world in a new light in this magical exploration into the life-sustaining wisdom of what lies beneath us. ‘We could do with a lot more characters like [Manchán] dotted about this world.’ Irish Independent‘Manchán creates a gorgeous tapestry that lingers in the mind’s eye.’ Kerri Ní Dochartaigh‘Manchán[’s] … got some theories about the roots of the Irish language that are going to blow your head off … an incredible storyteller.' Blindboy BoatclubManchán’s passion for Ireland’s ecological and poetic heritage is more urgently relevant than ever.’ Darach Ó Séaghdha

Meet the néaladóirí (cloud-watchers) and réadóirí (stargazers) from our past who, without the luxury of Met Éireann at their disposal, observed birds, trees, animals, as well as markers on land and sea for signs of weather change. The sheer richness and variety of terms they amassed reveal the closeness with which they observed the world around them. Swallows flying low foretold rain. The heron’s behaviour offered many hints: Aimsir chrua thirim nuair a bhíonn an corr éisc suas in aghaidh srutha chun na sléibhte (when the heron flies upstream to the mountains the weather will be dry but rough). Fearthainn nuair a thagann sí an abhainn anuas (when she goes downstream, it will rain).Evoking countless sodden, shivery experiences on this Atlantic-swept island of ours, this beautifully illustrated gift book uses Irish words to grasp an almost-lost world through the wisdom stored in the Irish language.

Celebrated, international bestselling author Manchán Magan takes readers on a fresh, eye-opening journey as he re-examines old Irish ways, finding links between ancient Irish beliefs and other Indigenous cultures around the world. With a foreword by Robert Macfarlane and a contribution by Merlin Sheldrake.Ireland may be a modern European country, but its old traditions, folktales, and mythologies reveal a relationship to the natural world that much more closely resemble global indigenous traditions of reciprocity, respect, and reverence.In Seeing What's Hidden Manchán Magan takes the reader along as he re-examines the old Irish ways, finding many a link between ancient Irish beliefs and other indigenous cultures around the world. Manchán explains that before Ireland was colonized (first by the Vikings, and later by England) it was an island shrouded in fog and mystery, bordered by coastline and covered in green, damp forest.In this book, Manchán returns to that pre-colonial Ireland. From the inherent reciprocity of the Irish language to retellings of ancient Irish folktales, Manchán reminds readers that Ireland was once a culture with a deeply spiritual relationship to the Earth and the sea and its people are still connected to the old ways and stories. By remembering what they once knew, the Irish—and all of us—can create a renewed relationship to land, tradition, and each other. Seeing What's Hidden is Manchán’s last book. In October of 2025 he passed away at age 55 of cancer while working on these pages. The project was completed by his close friends and colleagues.

Rediscover the lost words of an ancient land in this new and updated edition of an international bestseller.Most people associate Britain and Ireland with the English language, a vast, sprawling linguistic tree with roots in Latin, French, and German, and branches spanning the world, from Australia and India to North America.But the inhabitants of these islands originally spoke another tongue. Look closely enough and English contains traces of the Celtic soil from which it sprung, found in words like bog, loch, cairn and crag. Today, this heritage can be found nowhere more powerfully than in modern-day Gaelic.In Thirty-Two Words for Field Manchán Magan explores the enchantment, sublime beauty and sheer oddness of a 3000-year-old lexicon. Imbuing the natural world with meaning and magic, it evokes a time-honoured way of life, from its 32 separate words for a field, to terms like loisideach (a place with a lot of kneading troughs), bróis (whiskey for a horseman at a wedding), and iarmhaireacht (the loneliness you feel when you are the only person awake at cockcrow).Told through stories collected from Magan's own life and travels, Thirty-Two Words for Field is an enthralling celebration of Irish words, and a testament to the indelible relationship between landscape, culture and language.

Rediscover the lost words of an ancient land in this new and updated edition of an international bestseller.Most people associate Britain and Ireland with the English language, a vast, sprawling linguistic tree with roots in Latin, French, and German, and branches spanning the world, from Australia and India to North America.But the inhabitants of these islands originally spoke another tongue. Look closely enough and English contains traces of the Celtic soil from which it sprung, found in words like bog, loch, cairn and crag. Today, this heritage can be found nowhere more powerfully than in modern-day Gaelic.In Thirty-Two Words for Field Manchán Magan explores the enchantment, sublime beauty and sheer oddness of a 3000-year-old lexicon. Imbuing the natural world with meaning and magic, it evokes a time-honoured way of life, from its 32 separate words for a field, to terms like loisideach (a place with a lot of kneading troughs), bróis (whiskey for a horseman at a wedding), and iarmhaireacht (the loneliness you feel when you are the only person awake at cockcrow).Told through stories collected from Magan''s own life and travels, Thirty-Two Words for Field is an enthralling celebration of Irish words, and a testament to the indelible relationship between landscape, culture and language.