New to group and Ireland research. Family Michael Finnen and Ellen Hartnett

WernerDanielWilliam1

Michael Finnen, DOB: 1823, Catholic, County Longford

Ellen Hartnett, DOB: 1846, Catholic, County Longford

Could someone with experience instruct me how to get started finding records on them? Traveling to County Longford this September 2024.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

Hello and welcome @WernerDanielWilliam1 and happy to help.

Can you share a bit more? Did Michael and Ellen marry each other or are we searching for separate families? What else do you know, please?

Irish Roman Catholic records for Longford are available on multiple sites, including several that are free.

FamilySearch has indexes only, but no images. The project is still in process, meaning not all locations/years are complete.

The NLI has unindexed images. You need to know what parish to browse the images.

https://registers.nli.ie/

FindMyPast has images and an index to make the records name-searchable. No subscription required - just create a free account if you don't already have one.

https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-records/ireland-roman-catholic-parish-baptisms

Ancestry has images and an index, but you need a subscription to view the images. FMP and Ancestry joined forces on this project, meaning they shared a single index. Over time, as users have submitted edits/corrections, the 2 collections have evolved separately. An edit submitted to one company is not shared with the other.

WernerDanielWilliam1

Thank you. They came to the US and were married in Harrisburg, PA, USA.

Any help is appreciated.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

Hi again @WernerDanielWilliam1 Have you tried searching any of the sites I suggested? Does their marriage record have the names of parents or witnesses?

One caution - a year of birth on a later record, such as a census or death record, may not be the year your subjects were born. Many people simply didn't know when they were born. Celebrating birthdays was not something most people did. In a time when the majority of people were not literate and did not have to prove age to buy a beer or drive a car, exact age was not important.