I asked a mod to move the thread so getting it to the right place is in hand i.e. the Chicago board. Though the Aer Lingus board might be an alternative.
It's impossible to say if you'll have an an empty seat next to you. Depends which cabin you are in.There are people who have access to seat maps via expert flyer but you'd need to post your flight numbers and dates.
Sometimes seat allocation algorithms are illogical. Once I was doing OLCI check-in and had been sat next to someone else in J yet there were empty rows elsewhere in the cabin and I was travelling on my own!