'Westmeath has been so good to me' - Manchán Magan
By Regan Kelly
Award-winning author, documentary-maker,and Westeath resident Manchán Magan has been a busy man this side of Covid.
From releasing his award-winning and best-selling book ‘Thirty Two Words for Field’, to his multiple documentaries for RTÉ, TG4 and the Travel Channel, Manchán’s creative journey continues to flourish.
Manchán is a native of Dublin who moved to Westmeath in 1997, after purchasing a plot of land in Collinstown. He built the first straw-bale house in Ireland, a construction method where bales of straw are laid out as blocks and plastered with a mixture of lime and sand.
Manchán said: “Westmeath has been so good to me over the years. I had €10,000, and I got this gorgeous ten acres in Collinstown, and since then, the community has been nothing short of great.
"You know, I came into the place in the ‘90s, saying I wanted to build my straw bale house, I was just an idealistic hippie. When I arrived in 1997, I had these big lofty ideas, and didn’t know how to make sense of them. I was, in reality, an idealist and a dreamer.
“I benefit so much from being part of the community, along with the closeness of the community, and over the years people have looked after me. I wouldn’t be who I am without Collinstown.”
Manchán was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he had praise for the Westmeath community in helping him cope. “It’s a beautiful thing, it’s the doctor in Coole surgery, it’s the chemist in Castlepollard, it’s the staff at Mullingar hospital. You realise that all these people and services are looking after you in your time of need and difficulty as well.”
Like the rest of Ireland, there is no shortage of inspiration for the type of work Manchán does; our historical landscape remains largely untouched, and it is often quite easy to immerse yourself in the times of our ancestors. Westmeath has its own characteristics, of course, being part of the Kingdom of Meath until the late 1500s, and the Hill of Uisneach and the Hill of Tara are just an hour apart.
Manchán immerses himself in that, finding peace at Lough Lene like locals have done for thousands of years.
“No matter how confused, lost, or misdirected you are, once you get into that lake in Collinstown, you are healed. For me, it’s been my healing land, my sacred land. I write about these early Christian monks, who used to find their hermitage in the wild, and that would be the balm for their soul. For me, the community in Collinstown and Castlepollard have done the same.”
As Westmeath residents, we may take for granted the ancient beauty that you don’t have to travel far to witness.
Speaking on the energy in Fore Abbey, Manchán said: “There is no rational reason for the feeling and the energy that’s in Fore, it’s an uncanny place.
“Collinstown and Castlepollard are modern towns, we can easily understand them, those of us who have been brought up around that environment. Once you come into Fore, it’s a different story, you feel as if you’ve dropped out of the 21st century, it’s almost like a gentle feeling.
“It’s the people of the Fore now that are keeping the energy of St Feichin alive, and whatever bombastic monks went and built the place, we are so lucky.”
Manchán went on to praise Fáilte Ireland’s idea of the Hidden Heartlands: “Yes, you can go to the Cliffs of Moher and try to get a selfie with 12 other people in front of you.
“Or you can come to the Hidden Heartlands, take a photo, and there’s going to be nobody else there, you’re going to have it to yourself, maybe that stretch of the Shannon, the Inny or even Fore Abbey.”
Manchán remains a busy man. Currently, he is in Canada working with Cree Elders, finding similarities and cultural resonances between Irish culture and Indigenous cultures. He is also in preparation for his autumn tour of ‘Arán & Im’, in which he Manchán bakes sourdough and offers insights into the Irish language, all as a theatrical performance.
Manchán’s next Westmeath performance will be in the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone on December 5.