Don't overlook Ancestral Journeys

Ancestry. Journeys close-up.

Between 2024 and 2025, Ancestry renamed Genetic Communities to Ancestral Journeys as part of its AncestryDNA feature. In the next month or so Ancestry is likely to release its 2026 DNA update, and it will be very interesting to see how they keep improving on this powerful tool. In 2025, I used my Dad's ancestral journey for Central Ireland (concentrated around Lough Lee and the border of Roscommon and Longford) to hypothesize this journey belonged to the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Knowing what I know now, it's incredible that two years ago the DNA was pointing at this exact spot in Central Ireland. 23&Me's Ancestry Composition update also aligns with this region of Ireland for my results.

Ancestry. Journeys map for Roscommon and Longford.

Another of her majesty's soldiers

Fold3. UK Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Service Records.

In June 2024, I shared entries from the British Army pensioner records for Timothy Hanley. I now think Timothy was an older brother of my 4th-great-grandmother Maria Hanley, mother of Bridget Gannon. Another Hanley soldier appears in the same records, Martin Hanley. According to his service record, Martin was born in Kilgeevin, County Roscommon, Ireland about 1813. This location is very close to Cloontuskert and Termonbarry (seen on the map in this post from 23 August 2026). He enlisted in the 73rd Regiment of Foot on 4 November 1832, receiving half a crown for signing as a recruit.

Martin was deployed to Gibraltar four months, then to the Mediterranean (Valletta, Malta then Corfu, Greece) for three and a half years, and North America (Nova Scotia) for three years, and the remainder of his time in Great Britain. His service ended on 28 June 1843 and he was approved for a medical discharge on 6 July 1843.

The service record includes a great description of his height and features, brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

I think Martin was discharged and under home depot service from 1839 through 1843. There is a Martin Hanley who married Ellenora Igo and appears in the 1850 US Census in Salisbury, La Salle County, Illinois. This Martin is the ancestor of three of my Dad's DNA matches. I think this is the same person as the Martin Hanley who served in the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which means Martin was likely a brother of Timothy, Thomas and Maria Hanley.

FamilySearch Wiki on Roscommon

FamilySearch wiki for Roscommon, Ireland.

As I dive further into the records on the Gannon and Hanley families in Roscommon and Longford, Ireland, it is a good reminder to check what sources are available using the helpful FamilySearch wiki. My particular connections point to the border of Roscommon and Longford, at the historic crossing of Termonbarry. While I've looked at some of these records in the past, it is always helpful to revisit these sources to see if there are new records that might have been added or overlooked.

Termonbarry, Roscommon. JohnGrenham.

Research Progress September 2026

With the calendar change to a new month it is time for another recap on my research progress. The main focus of August was the DNA Skills course and determining the family of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Toward the end of August I seemed to have enough DNA signs to make the case for Daniel Gannon and Maria Hanley as the parents of Bridget.

There's a bit more work to do, and I am continuing to build out a genetic map linking a 44 cM match descending from a brother of Daniel Gannon, and a 23 cM match descending from a brother of Maria Hanley. The Gannons may have had a sibling who left Ireland for Australia, as there's a cluster of Australian matches also in common with HD, the 44 cM match, and his niece, a 26 cM match.

The other research questions I listed in my August post carry over to this month. I may switch over to the maternal side of the tree once I've had my 1:1 meeting with an expert coach as part of the DNA Skills course and confirm if I'm on the right track with my hypothesis for Daniel and Maria.

End of August

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tompkins County, NY. 19 Aug 2026.