Hi Ivan,
Thank you for your message.
You can try looking for information Michael and Jane in church records. If you can find their marriage certificate it may give you their fathers? names. You may also be lucky and be able to find their birth records also.
Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Ballymore parish, follow this link:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&churchid=909&CityCounty=Westmeath&CityCounty=Westmeath&parish=Ballymore
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Unfortunately, it will be harder to find records on Edward and Catherine without a more specific place of origin in Westmeath. Most Irish record sources are based on specific locations, usually a parish, without this it is difficult to find information.
You could try looking for record of the families in the land acts pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. These do not give any genealogical information but can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Also, the Immigration Museum in Buenos Aires run by the Department of the Interior has individual cards with the names of Irish immigrants stored in their archive. Perhaps you may be able to find more information about place of origin here. The Museo Nacional de la Inmigraci?n (Avenida Ant?rtida Argentina 1355; - is open 10 a.m.?5 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m.?6 p.m. weekends. tel. 011/43170285, museodelainmigracion@migraciones.gov.ar for free or try: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?museo
Some other website that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Genealogy links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/westmeath/index.html
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
You could also try contacting the Heritage Centre in Westmeath, however a fee may apply. Here is their email: dunnasimoate@eircom.net
I hope that this is helpful. Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support