Saoirse Kennedy Hill's father sobs as he lays 22-year-old daughter to rest
Dozens of members of the extended Kennedy clan as well as university friends filled a Cape Cod church on Monday to pay their final respects to Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the 22-year-old granddaughter of Robert Kennedy.
Miss Kennedy Hill, who had suffered from mental illness, was the child of Courtney Kennedy, former US attorney general Robert Kennedy's daughter.
Ted Kennedy Jr., former congressman Joe Kennedy Jr., and current congressman Joe Kennedy III served as pallbearers during the funeral Mass held at Our Lady of Victory Church in the Barnstable village of Centerville, not far from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port.
Saoirse's grandmother, 91-year-old Ethel Kennedy, was also at the funeral service. A private burial was scheduled to follow the Mass.
Miss Kennedy Hill, who was scheduled to start her senior year at Boston College this autumn, was found unresponsive at a home in the compound on Thursday by first responders who were dispatched for reports of an overdose.
She was pronounced dead at Cape Cod Hospital, according to the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office, which is investigating. The cause of death remains under investigation. An autopsy revealed no signs of trauma, and investigators are awaiting toxicology reports.
Miss Kennedy Hill was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s fifth child, Courtney, and Paul Michael Hill.
Mr Hill is one of the Guildford Four, who were wrongly convicted of the 1974 IRA pub bombings in Guildford and he spent 15 years in prison. He married Courtney shortly after his release in 1993 and their daughter Saoirse's name means "freedom" in Gaelic.
The Mass was closed to the media, but according to the bulletin, it included words to a song called "When Saoirse’s Eyes Are Smiling" to be sung at the conclusion of the service, to the tune of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
In a statement last week, the Kennedy family remembered the 22-year-old for her social activism, her passion for human rights and women’s empowerment and her work with indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico.
Miss Kennedy Hill had also written publicly in 2016 about her struggles with mental health and a suicide attempt while in high school at Deerfield Academy.
Robert Kennedy Jr. said in an Instagram post said that he thought of Miss Kennedy Hill as a daughter.
"Saoirse was fierce, both in her love for her family and yearning for justice," he wrote. "A fearless adventurer, she inspired curiosity and daring in her friends. But her greatest gift was to find humor in everything and to give us all the gift of her laughter - and our own."
