A century of Arran ties as McGhees gather for reunion

MORE than 70 members of the McGhee family will be gathering in Kildonan from today (Saturday) for a long-planned reunion of cousins and their families, marking an Arran connection of more than 100 years.

They are all descendents of Ann and William McGhee who came from Stevenston and holidayed on Arran all of their lives.

The couple had nine children between 1896 and 1916 whose families are now scattered all over the world.

Representatives of the family from South Africa, USA, England, Scotland, Ireland and Denmark will be attending, including seven of the surviving 11 cousins. Three of the cousins are no longer alive but their children or grandchildren will be there.

Commemorating the event and providing a historical record, a book has been compiled of the stories of each of the nine children for the reunion.

Everyone was asked to write a little piece about their memories of their parent or grandparent resulting in an archive of information which will be of interest to future gener- ations. A common thread running through all the stories was the love of Arran, which has always played a very special part in the lives of the McGhees, so when planning this reunion there was no other place to be considered.

Many of the nine brothers and sisters met or honeymooned on Arran and their families grew up as confirmed Arranophiles.

Some of the descendents from South Africa and the USA are making their first visit to Arran to see for themselves what is so special about the island and why it is so inextricably linked to the McGhee/ McGhie family.

No_B28_mcghee_01 Bottom, a McGhee family reunion in 1947 when second son Robert brought his family home from Albany, New York.

No_B28_mcghee_02 Left, a McGhee family holiday photograph taken in Brodick in 1925.

No_B28_mcghee_04 Below, Bill McGhie from New York on a visit to Arran in 1947. Bill will be staying in Kildonan with his family for the reunion.