Jack, I can answer part of your query. You will probably get other answers as well. Visited Longford County in June and neighboring Offaly County (to see the Claffey Church at Clonmacnoise). Ballymahon is a town in Longford County. My guess is that 'District ABBYSHRULE' is the "Parish" and therefore birth would have been recorded at church there. Other listers , please correct me if I'm wrong :-) As far as different spellings, many folks could not read or write even 75 years ago. They told their name to a clerk or someone else who recorded it. The clerk or recorder many times inscribed a name much as it sounded if the person could not spell it for them. Thus two clerks might write the name differently, One Peter McLoaghlin , one McLoughlin, and yet another McLaughlin. On the matter of dumb questions --- >Sorry for the dumb questions - I only need to ask once. "A phase that requires an answer is never a useless question". If you need to ask , then it is wise to ask others who might know and be able to help you. Kind regards. Carol Ann Claffey Mounts in Washington PA