A family affair
Gathering draws relatives from near and far
More than 100 members of the same family enjoyed an evening of singing, dancing and childhood memories during a special reunion at the weekend.
People came from as far afield as the USA and Canada for a well-attended Philliben (or Philiben) get-together at the King Robert Hotel in Bannockburn on Saturday evening.
The evening was organised by sisters Anne Smith and Liz Rankine, who have been hard at work trying to draw people together from all corners of the globe for well over a year.
And Anne told the Observer: “My sister set up a Facebook page for the family and a lot of people started to join and interact with one another. A lot of people were getting involved.
“From there we came up with the idea of a reunion – and that was around a year ago.”
She added: “We all come from the same two people from County Mayo in Ireland and they had kids in Bannockburn. From there some people moved to the US and Canada and quite a lot stayed in this area.
“Some people were here as kids and then moved away, while others had never been here before, so it was nice to bring everyone together again.
“It was great to put faces to the names and for us to all meet in person. I think the night meant a lot to everyone who came.”
Anne explained that through her planning and organising of the event she learned that the name actually has two spellings – Philliben and Philiben.
She said: “When the family first emigrated they only spoke Irish Gaelic so the name must have been taken down differently at some point.
“I think we’ve learned a lot about the family by doing this and we’ll all keep in touch on the Facebook page.”
Those in attendance enjoyed performances from Denny-based Ryan School of Dancing on the night along with songs and music performed by friends.