Presentations

The majority of my research has involved DNA analysis and my Irish ancestors. With my scientific background I approach genealogy in an analytical manner. You will find these presentations all involve different techniques for DNA analysis. Many of them include research in Irish records to verify trees that I’ve built out for DNA matches.

B = beginning, I = intermediate, A = advanced.

Patricia is available for presentation to your group in person or by webinar. Contact Patricia for details about giving a presentation at info@patriciacolemangenealogy.com

Coming Soon

Minnesota Genealogical Society North Star Conference – 30-31 October 2026 at the Eagan Community Center, Eagan, MN

Two Cousins and a Son-In-Law: A Civil War Story & Mystery – Three Irish immigrants came to the United States at different times and eventually found themselves connected in Virginia during the Civil War. Their military service, family relationships, and surviving records reveal how two cousins and a son-in-law became part of the same wartime story.

An AI Research Project: From One Prussian Record to Two Stories – This presentation demonstrates how an AI Project can be used as a persistent genealogy research workspace, keeping records, translations, questions, and conclusions together as the investigation develops. Using the Sauerwald family as a case study, one German record grows into two connected stories spanning Germany and Virginia.

Available Presentations

Chromosome Mapping and Clustering Tools:  DNA Painter and GEDmatch Tier 1 – This presentation has two parts. The first shows setting up DNA Painter and adding data from the testing sites: MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, GEDmatch, and LivingDNA. The second part describes the various clustering tools on GEDmatch Tier 1, and how you can use the results you obtain from each of them. (I)

Sorting Your Ancestry DNA Matches – Many people’s first DNA test is with Ancestry, but then they don’t know what to do with the results.  The most important results are the shared matches, which can be quite numerous and contain many unfamiliar surnames.  This presentation will provide several methods for comparing and sorting DNA matches into family groups. (B)

Exploring DNA Segments for Breakthrough Discoveries -DNA analysis at FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, LivingDNA, and GEDmatch provides segment data for you and your shared matches.  When you find that tow of your DNA matches shared the exact same segment with you, it is a good indication that the three of you share a most recent common ancestor (MRCA).  (B)

Getting Started with DNA Painter -This presentation goes through the basics of setting up a DNA Painter account.  Next it shows how to add data from MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA, and GEDMatch. (Since fall 2023 23andMe is not providing a chromosome browser.) (I)

Organizing and Mapping Your DNA Matches with DNA Painter – Setting up a DNA Painter account, adding matches, this presentation shows how they can be organized to provide connections to your family. (I)

How DNA Clusters Can Help Your Genealogical Research – This presentation explains how clusters work and then goes through an example showing how I used the clusters to help make a family connection. (I)

Using Clusters, Paintings and Trees to Find Your Common Ancestors – Clustering matches and adding the segment data from the cluster to DNA Painter shows the triangulated matches. Next analyzing the matches’ trees and verifying them with records help to locate their ancestors in the same region of your ancestors. (A)

Putting All the Pieces Together: DNA and Irish Online Resources – This presentation is the result of my being asked many time how I managed to find connections between my family and DNA matches. It covers clustering matches, building out family trees for matches, and then verifying those trees with records. (A)

In Search of Irish Cousins: DNA Matches, Clusters, and Family Trees – This presentation describes using DNA matches and clusters to then build out and verify family trees. In doing so I was able to discover how DNA matches which ancestors form County Limerick and I were connected. (A)

AutoLineage: DNA Matches, Trees and Common Ancestors – This presentation covers the many features of Genetic Affairs AutoLineage. DNA matches and shared matches can be added from all the sites. Trees are converted to gedcoms and connected to the DNA matches. AutoLineage finds common ancestors among these gedcoms and builts out reconstructed trees showing the common ancestors between the tester and the various DNA matches.(A)

Finding Thomas Byrnes Birth Location in County Roscommon With No Direct Evidence – When no birth or baptismal record could be found for great grandfather, Thomas Byrnes, our attention turned to analyzing where our DNA matches ancestors lived in County Roscommon.  This required building out and verifying the matches’ family trees. (A)

Enhancing Genealogical Research with AI Assistance – This presentation, first given in October 2025, shows how I’ve used AI in my family research. ChatGPT has provided images for slide presentations, transcribes, organized, and summarized results. One major use has been writing Excel macros for Mac to provide detailed analyses that would have taken much time to do manually. (I)

DNA Case Study: Finding an 1877 Birth Father with Genetic Affairs, Banyan DNA, and No Birth Record – This DNA case study follows the search for Flora’s unknown 1877 birth father when no birth record could be found. Using Ancestry DNA matches, Genetic Affairs AutoLineage, reconstructed match trees, and BanyanDNA hypothesis testing, the presentation demonstrates how DNA evidence can distinguish between competing family relationships. (A)