Shanvalley Poem

Over a year ago we received a poem from a 3rd great-grandson of Moses Hart. This poem was written in the late 1820’s or early 1830’s by an Irish teacher named McKinley. McKinley was a friend of the Hart family and wrote this for them as they prepared to leave Ireland for their journey to the United States. The significance of this poem is that it confirmed the names of individuals in our Hart family, not only the names but a poetic description of each person and the area where they lived, all, except the person who reprinted the poem from the original, Moses Hart. Over a year after this important paper was shared with us, Bill Sayre, a 3rd great-grandson of James Hart, also share with us a copy of the same poem, this one included the missing stanza about Moses Hart. The poem is now complete.

You can view a transcription of the poem here: Hart family poem

Hart Family History

Family History indicates the Hart’s migrated from Scotland to Ireland in the mid 1780”s.This is referenced in newspaper article about a Hart family reunion. This migration corresponds to the start of the “Scottish Clearances”, the act of driving people from their land, first in the lowlands in the mid 1700’s,followed by the highlands in 1785.