Manchán Magan (who has died since this interview was published in 2024) was abroad when he learned he was ill. At the time, the broadcaster and writer was in the Basque region of Spain, shooting his latest television series, Manchán’s Europe by Train; having given up air travel for journalism purposes in 2020, he was happy to be documenting his adventures across the continent’s rail network. But he had other things on his mind too. “I was in San Sebastián and I did a Zoom with my oncologist,” says Magan. “I knew there was a problem with my prostate and I had got an MRI, so when we were filming, there was a sense that this isn’t going to give good news.”

So it was. But despite receiving an unwelcome diagnosis of prostate cancer that day last year, not only did Magan finish making his travel series – “We did it in two bouts” – he has if anything increased his already prodigious work rate. Having written multiple books about the Irish language and landscape since his surprise bestseller 32 Words for Field in 2020, he has three more volumes in the pipeline for the coming year. There are also podcasts and performances of his one-man shows, including an Irish tour in November under the typically Manchán-esque banner of Rewilding the Mind. “My life has speeded up so much, every single day now my inbox is full of people asking for things.”

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A preference for the road less travelled has long been Magan’s trademark.