Riverina town hosts epic reunion as family returns to its roots

About 200 members of the Carroll family converged on the Ganmain Sportsground for an entire weekend of family fun, chinwags, games and memories.

Organiser Greg Carroll said there was a great turnout.

"We had people come from Melbourne, Sydney, South Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, [as well as locally] from Wagga, Ganmain, Coolamon and Griffith," Mr Carroll said.

But Mr Carroll said despite the high turnout, that only amounted to about two-thirds of the extended family, who make up just one-ninth of the Carrolls who descended from the original Ganmain settlers.

Across the weekend, family members met first, second and third cousins for the first time, and enjoyed making many memories through a range of games including tug-of-war and a singing contest on Saturday night.

Mr Carroll said the family partied hard into the early hours of Sunday morning before attending mass and going on a tour of the local graveyard where their ancestors are buried.

He said the idea actually sprang from the cemetery, when the family was gathered for a funeral.

"We always meet up at funerals, and at one of the last of those in early 2023 we wondered why... can't we have a get together [that isn't at a funeral]," he said.

It was then that Mr Carroll decided to take action.

"I said we're having a reunion on [the first weekend in March] and asked how that sounded... that's how it started off," he said.

"From there, we had a few meetings and a large majority of the family jumped on board."

Winding back the years, Mr Carroll said his great great grandfather James Carroll originally came out of Ireland in the mid-1800s.

"[His son] Larry Carroll travelled from Daylesford to Mansfield [in Victoria] then travelled up to Ardlethan, before heading back down to Marrar and ended up acquiring a settler's block in Ganmain and that's where it all started.

"And he was an only child."

Mr Carroll said Larry went on to have nine children.

"We are only one branch of that family, so including the rest...[our family] is massive," he said.