The Brickwall Comes Tumbling Down

Recently my focus has been on my Fitzgerald ancestors, specifically John and Emily (Tennyson) Fitzgerald's family.  I have been doing a lot of collateral or cluster research.  I have been tracing down their children as far as I can chase them....some farther than others.  All this in preparation for the trip to Pennsylvania with my family (the trip has been postponed again due to my recent new job...but that's for another day).  Anyway, this family has been m brickwall for 10 years! 
A few weeks ago I requested a death record transcription from a wonderful volunteer via Random Acts of Genealogical Kindess for John and Emily's youngest son, Edward.  Edward moved to Iowa, had a family, then died in Los Angeles at the home of his daughter.  He and his wife are buried in Inglewood Cemetery in Inglewood, California.  Imagine my joy when, on Edward's death certificate, John's city of birth in Ireland was recorded!  So know I know that my 3rd Great Grandfather was born in the City of Cork, County Cork, Ireland!  Now I still don't have John's parent's names, but I have a great detail about my ancestry!  AND it's a very exciting discovery. 
So maybe the brickwall hasn't come completely down, but I think I have broken a big chunk out of it!
Happy Hunting!

Burning the midnight Oil...

I have been known in the past to stay up well into the wee hours of the morning working on research, espcially when I am on a hot lead.  I think many genealogists can relate to that.  Now I am working night shift and I am awake at night, even on my nights off.  It takes a whole new meaning to "Burning the midnight Oil".  It is funny to think that when I first found out I would be working nights, like many other new nurses, I thought "Wow!  I'll have lots of time for genealogy research!"  So on a recent night off I was working on research and fortunately also on a 'hot' lead as well.  And No family complaining that I wasn't paying attention to them.  :)