CAN YOU HELP?

💡Help unlock our shared family history with your DNA matches

Have you tested at AncestryDNA? Your match list might contain the missing links I'm searching for. As an enthusiastic genetic genealogist, I'm working to reunite our ancestors with the families they were separated from—by time, distance, or circumstance.

After 40 years of research, everything changed in 2017 thanks to DNA testing. We were finally able to reconnect—on paper—our many-times-great-grandmother Jane Feeney with her birth family. It was a breakthrough I’ll never forget. (You can read the full story HERE.)

Now, I’m continuing that work—and your DNA matches could help solve the next chapter.

🧬 Why DNA matches matter

Each of us inherits 50% of our DNA from each parent, but the specific segments we receive are randomly selected. That means you and your siblings—or cousins—can inherit different parts of your shared ancestors’ DNA.

Because of this, you might match cousins that I don’t, and I might match others that you don’t. That’s what makes comparing match lists so powerful—your DNA might hold clues that mine simply doesn’t.

Our AncestryDNA match list is more than a set of names—it’s a living record of our genetic story. Each match represents a shared piece of the past. Somewhere in those connections lies the key to our common ancestors—whether through Jane Feeney, her first husband John Killion, her second husband Thomas Seward, or their ancestors waiting to be rediscovered.

But here’s the catch: I can only see matches connected to my own DNA. Your match list is unique and it might contain the missing link we need to connect the dots in our shared family tree.

🧭 How you can help

Would you consider adding me as a collaborator on your AncestryDNA test?

It’s quick and secure. Just follow these instructions:

➡️ Instructions for sharing your match list

Use my email address: chrisw9953@gmail.com (don’t forget the “w”) and choose Collaborator access.

You'll remain in full control—this only allows me to view your DNA matches and shared matches. I won’t see private messages or your tree if its private.

🔍 What I’ll do with your match list

With your match list, I can use tools like shared matches and historical documents to piece together how we’re connected to DNA matches on our common ancestral lines. My goal is to build out the family trees of our matches to uncover the names, places, and stories hidden in our DNA.

💌 Thank you to the current research team

A huge thank-you to everyone who’s already joined the journey! You can see the growing list of descendants from Jane Feeney’s children in our research group.

I'm especially hoping to connect with descendants of Rose, Thomas, Annie and Matilda—this is where we most need help right now.

🧱 Brick walls I'm working on

Here are two of our biggest mysteries:

• John Killion was transported "for life" from County Westmeath, Ireland, in 1833. Due to limited Irish records, we know almost nothing about his life or family before that.

• Thomas Seward was born in England but transported from Bombay, where he worked for the East India Company. Could DNA help confirm if his parents were Thomas and Ann Seward of Kent?

If you're open to sharing your match list, I’d be incredibly grateful. You might be holding the missing piece that helps bring our ancestors’ stories back to life.

🔗 How I Work with Match Lists: Finding Stories in the Smallest Segments

Here are two examples of how I systematically work through DNA match lists—weaving together genetic networks to uncover common ancestors with the goal of linking mystery matches to the families of Jane Feeney, John Killion, and Thomas Seward.

Once we start looking beyond great-great-grandparents, the randomness of DNA inheritance really becomes obvious. At that level, people may only share a tiny segment of DNA—but even those small segments can tell powerful stories. 

🧬 The "Kelly/Ledwich" genetic network

In this case, eight descendants of John Killion and Jane Feeney—through their children Rose, Thomas, and Margaret—share small but meaningful amounts of DNA with eleven testers.

Those eleven matches? They’re all descendants of three children of William Kelly (or Kelley) and Catherine Ledwich.

Even though, in every case, there's only one segment of shared DNA and it's small, the repetition of shared ancestry patterns across different branches makes the connection hard to ignore—and points to a deeper link between these families.

It’s more likely that our genetic link to the Kelly family comes through the Killion line, rather than Feeney. While I haven’t yet found direct records for William Kelly and Catherine Ledwich, they are consistently named in their children’s records as the parents.

Based on those records, William and Catherine were likely born between 1810 and 1820, placing them in the same generation—or possibly one younger—than John Killion. The family appears to have been farmers living in the townland of Moore South in County Roscommon. 

What’s especially intriguing is that Moore South lies just 16 kilometres from Athlone in County Westmeath—the town where John Killion was convicted. This close geographical proximity, combined with supporting genetic evidence, makes the possibility of a family connection between the Kellys and Killions even more compelling.

🧬 The "Killoy/Hennessey" genetic network

This is an emerging area of research—and one that could be greatly enhanced with access to more AncestryDNA match lists.

So far, four descendants of John Killion and Jane Feeney—through their children Jack, Rose, and Margaret—share small but meaningful segments of DNA with 22 testers. The consistency of these connections is hard to dismiss, although I’m still exploring several working hypotheses to explain how these families might be connected. At this stage, the evidence suggests a stronger link on the Killion side.

🔍 The Killoy–Hennessy Connections

Thirteen of these matches descend from two of the children of Michael Killoy (also spelled Killoughy) and Ann Hennessy. Michael and Ann had at least five children—Catherine, John, Anna, Bridget, and Rose—born in County Westmeath between 1807 and 1827. Records show that Ann and her children later migrated to the United States, although there is no trace of Michael’s migration or death. Ann died on 20 January 1868 and is buried in Saint Bernard’s Catholic Cemetery, Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Her birth date is recorded as 13 August 1767, placing her children in the same generation as John Killion.

🧬 From New York to Wisconsin – The Sloan Line

I initially referred to the second cluster of matches as the Quinlan genetic network, but deeper research into the Killoy connections shifted that thinking.

Michael and Ann Killoy’s daughter Anna married Patrick Sloan, also from County Westmeath. Their first child was born in New York in 1836. By 1850, the family had moved over 1,500 kilometres west to Watertown, Wisconsin, where their daughter Anna Maria Sloan was born. She married Henry Duffy at the age of 25. So far, I have not identified any DNA matches through the children of Anna Maria’s marriage.

🌊 A Curious Canadian Connection

Around 1890, a woman named Mary Ann Sloan married Edward Quinlan in New Brunswick, Canada, nearly 2,500 kilometres east of Watertown. I initially suspected the Quinlan line might be the connection to John Killion, but Edward’s family was not from County Westmeath or County Roscommon, and I couldn’t locate a birth record for Mary Ann.

Then I noticed a detail that changed everything: Mary Ann’s marriage record lists her parents as “unknown.” Her headstone states she was born on 18 March 1873 in Nova Scotia, but no birth record has surfaced.

This led me to a new working hypothesis:
Mary Ann Sloan may have been the daughter of Anna Maria Sloan, born out of wedlock in 1873, two years before Anna Maria’s 1875 marriage. In this case, Michael and Ann Killoy would be her grandparents, and the genetic connection would run firmly through the Killoy line.

🧩 Supporting Evidence from Spousal Lines

I’ve also explored the family lines of the spouses of John and Anna Killoy, as well as William and Henry Sloan (linked to the Quinlan matches). None of their spouses appear to have origins in County Westmeath or County Roscommon.

This absence of local roots further supports my working hypothesis:
The common ancestry with our Killion line is more likely to lie on the Killoy or Hennessy side—and all signs currently point toward a connection with the Killoy family.

🌟 Final Thoughts: Your DNA Could Hold the Missing Piece

Family history research is like piecing together a beautiful, complicated puzzle — and sometimes, the tiniest DNA match can unlock stories that have been hidden for generations.

As you've seen through these examples, even small segments of shared DNA can reveal powerful connections, breathing life into the names and places of the past. Each new match brings us closer to reuniting the branches of our family tree — and maybe even discovering ancestors who have been forgotten over time.

If you’re willing to share access to your AncestryDNA match list, you could be part of the next breakthrough. Your matches might hold the missing clues that link us all together.

Thank you for following along in this journey. Every contribution, no matter how small, helps to honor the lives of those who came before us — and keeps their stories alive for future generations.

Together, we can reconnect the past — one DNA match at a time. 🧬🌳