Estimated and Assumed Marriages
In many cases marriage records for the parents of people of interest in this study have not been found. Unless there is evidence to the contrary, it is assumed that such parents married at some point before the birth of their first child. Again, unless there is evidence to the contrary, it is assumed they married in Ireland but generally not assumed that they married in Leitrim.
When such an assumption is made, the following general rules have been observed:
- If the birth date of a child is known, the couple is assumed to have married before that child's year of birth. This takes into the account the earliest known child of the marraige
- If the birth date of no child of the marriage is known, then the parents are assumed to have married before the assumed or estimated year of birth of the earliest child of the marriage.