The prolific documentary-maker, writer and environmentalist, died last Thursday, aged 55, from cancer.
Those gathered for the service at Gonzaga College Chapel in Dublin, heard how he had recently married his partner, Aisling, in St James’s Hospital.
His brother Ruán, who is a director and often worked with his brother, revealed how porters had decorated a bridal suite for them.
“We were very touched,” he said.
“The porters in James’s created a bridal suite for them, with flowers and champagne, non alcoholic, and all sorts of gorgeous things.”
He thanked the staff at St Luke’s and St James’s Hospitals, and at the hospice in Harold’s Cross for caring for his brother.
Musicians, including Glen Hansard, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Lisa O’Neill and Colm Mac Con Iomaire played at the service while Niall Breslin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh of Kneecap were also in attendance.
Symbols representing Mr Magan’s life, such as a small safari truck, which he got when he was seven-years-old, “just three of his dictionaries”, sandals, a backpack, and gardening utensils, as he “grew every bit of food he needed” were brought to the altar.
Other gifts were Manchán’s honey, a computer mouse, his favourite chair, a hat, and a drum, which represents his relationship with indigenous people all over the world.
His brother Ruán told mourners he is “so proud of his little brother”.
“Manchán is gone, but he’s not gone, and he’s going to be continuing, even through his podcast, his documentaries, his books. His spirit continues.
“What a difference one person can make. And to have done this so simply, Manchán, without fuss, rage, or ego is extraordinary.
“Little brother, fire starter, teacher, tree planter, builder, global inspiration. Beautiful human.
“In these tricky times, you reminded us how to be better humans. You taught us to be proud of our culture, but not in a narrow form of nationalism or politics. He loathed that. That was not what he was about.
“But instead, to help us unlock through our language and our sense of place, what our heritage can reveal to us.
“You taught us how to love and feel joy for our existence, love for life, love for nature, joy for trees, joy for bees, love of light, love of rain, love of animals, love of connections, of our fellow creatures and humans, love and respect for all cultures, love of language, spirit, laughter, words, imagination.”
His wife, Aisling, said Mr Magan’s greatest gift was his ability “to laugh at himself”.
“He was just so funny. I’ve learned so much humility from him.
“I started to fall in love with Manchán around page 255 of his book, Angels and Rabies, which was the book that he had gifted me after our first meeting 11 years ago. By the time I’d finished the book, I was already madly in love.
“He was so off script, you couldn’t put him in a box. He was someone who was so connected to his culture and his heritage, his Irishness, but he had such wide open arms for the world and everything that it offered.
“He never wanted to be divisive. He never created sides. He was a bridge. He was a connector and an opener to everyone he met.
“He had that glorious ‘hello to you’, and he would light up meeting someone for the first time and saying ‘hello to you’ as if he knew them forever and and the other person just would light up too.
“The offers of love and support in the last few weeks have just been phenomenal. And he did feel them. He felt them so much in the last week, so many of them did get through to him.”
She added her husband will be her “spirit guide for the rest of her life”.
Aide-de-Camp Commandant Deirdre Newell, representing the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, attended the service..
Fr Tom Casey, who celebrated the mass, told mourners he had visited the broadcaster last Monday afternoon, and said he was “frail”, but still full of life”.
He described him as a “true Irishman in heart and bone”, with the “vision of one who saw the sacred in every tongue, in every creature, in every dawn”.
“Although he travelled widely, his heart was earthed in 10 acres of Westmeath, and you probably see a lot of the foliage and plants from those 10 acres here in the chapel this morning.”
Fr Casey added Mr Magan’s message was “as simple as it was seismic”: “If we do not walk the path of the spirit, our footsteps will fade from the world.”
The late broadcaster is survived by his wife Aisling, mother Cróine, brothers Ríoch and Ruán, and sister Líadain.
