Again, signs point to Longford

Once again I'm looking at DNA matches with links to this border area of County Longford, Ireland and Roscommon. On MyHeritage, my Dad's results match to someone (EM) who is likely a grandson of a first cousin from the O'Brien side, but might be more closely related. This match has 228 cM in common across 10 segments. EM and my Dad also match with PH, who has 23 cM in common with my Dad across 2 segments and has 39 cM in common with EM.

Here's where things get interesting. PH has a tree on MyHeritage and Ancestry. On Ancestry, I can see from shared matches of matches that he and his sister match with my Dad. On Ancestry PH has 17 cM in common, with 99 cM in common with another match (EG) who has 13 cM in common with my Dad. This person also has 32 cM in common with Mike, my Dad's first cousin on the O'Brien side. The sister has 17 cM in common with my Dad, and she does not seem to match Mike. The sister is also a 30 cM match with EG.

I posed this question to Claude, which identified this is likely a set of matches in common with my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. I suspected this was the case but because I have so few matches with this line, I'm pursuing a variety of leads. A further wrinkle of connection is PH's 3rd-great-grandparents were Hanleys who immigrated from Roscommon, Ireland to LaSalle County, Illinois and were living in the same township as Bridget in 1850.

I feel like I've looked at these people previously. There's definitely more to follow and further posts soon.

An Ancient Connection

 

FTDNA. A2d Discover Report. Mar 2026.

FamilyTreeDNA shows I have another rare ancient DNA connection, this time to a Mayan man who lived at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan between 500-900 CE. This is pretty cool as I've been to Chichen Itza twice over the years, most recently 10 years ago.

Last year I also shared a link to a study on DNA at Teotihuacan, and another study on DNA at the Mayan city of Copan.

Waiting on the mail

Earlier in the week I sent an inquiry to the church secretary in LaSalle, Illinois who may hold the records from the time when the O'Briens were living in the town. The inquiry was on several printed forms, and dropped in the mail along with a donation research fee. This envelope should arrive today. Now I wait in the hopes that the records I seek still exist and contain the breakthrough information that has eluded my search so far.

In addition to the mail, we're still waiting on the results from several mtDNA kits and a Big Y with FamilyTreeDNA. Our daughter's results really should arrive any day now as we're in the 10th week of processing.

Flower Sculptures

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026.

The photos above and below are ornate flower decorations at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, our venue from the meetings earlier in the month. The sculptures were part of the lavish 2024 wedding of the year at the venue. Another wedding occurred at the building at the start of our event, and while there aren't photos, the flower sculptures are a reminder of what was. Here's a link from Vogue India on the spectacular from 2024.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Jio World Centre.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026.

Deadwood

 

Gem Theater, Deadwood, South Dakota.

As I look into the timeline of Agnes Atherton's performances, one that I had previously overlooked stands out as incredibly adventurous. In January 1883, as part of Niblo's Humpty Dumpty company based in Chicago, Agnes ventured into Deadwood, South Dakota for performances at the New Gem Theater run by the notorious Al Swearengen. This 2019 article from True West magazine provides some interesting color (and historic photos) on Swearengen and the Gem Theater, which was known as a din of prostitution, drinking and gambling. Deadwood would have been a snow-packed mountain mining town transitioning from a lawless gold camp into a more permanent and rugged settlement. A dangerous place for a young 24 year old to be.

Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times. 6 Jan 1883.

I have not watched the HBO series Deadwood, featuring Ian McShane as Swearengen, but now I need to put it on my watchlist.

Black Hills Weekly Pioneer. 19 Jan 1883.

Agnes likely arrived by stagecoach for the last miles from the nearest train to arrive in Deadwood. She was traveling apart from her first husband Fred Day, who was back in Detroit. It is unclear how long the Chicago company remained in Deadwood, or if Agnes stayed on for very long. By September 1883 Agnes had returned to Detroit. She and Fred separated permanently shortly afterward.