Distraught relatives hug at the Kennedy family compound as Robert Kennedy's widow, 91, leads tributes to granddaughter Saoirse, 22, who died from a suspected drug overdose, saying 'the world is a less beautiful place' (38 Pics)
Ethel Kennedy paid a moving tribute to her granddaughter Saoirse Roisin Kennedy-Hill, who died of a suspected drug overdose on Thursday, saying, 'The world is a little less beautiful today.'
Saoirse, 22, was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill — one of the 11 children of the late presidential candidate Robert Kennedy and his widow Ethel, 91, an environmental and human rights activist.
Paramedics responded to a suspected overdose just after 2.30 pm and found the patient in cardiac arrest. She was transported to Cape Cod Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to local media.
The Boston College Student, who was due to graduate in 2020, wrote movingly about her struggle with depression and mental illness in a candid article for her school paper in 2016.
She also described how she attempted to take her own life two weeks before her junior year began at the prestigious preparatory school, Deerfield Academy, claiming she 'totally lost it after someone I knew and loved broke serious sexual boundaries with me.'
In the essay she penned, Saoirse did not go into further detail about the individual who broke her 'sexual boundaries' or state whether she reported any alleged assault. But it seemed clear from her writing that the encounter had an impact on her emotionally.
Saoirse Kennedy Hill (pictured) has been identified as the young woman who died of a possible drug overdose at the Kennedy Compound on Cape Cod. She was 22 years old
Saoirse, 22, was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill — one of the 11 children of the late presidential candidate and the environmental and human rights activist Ethel Kennedy. They are pictured together above at an event in The White House several years ago, thought to be when Pope Francis made his official visit to the U.S. in 2015
Saoirse was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's fifth child, Courtney, and Paul Michael Hill, who was one of four falsely convicted in the 1974 Irish Republican Army bombings of two pubs. She is pictured with her uncle Robert Kennedy Jr and other family members at a Kenny Chesney concert in Foxboro in 2018
There were emotional scenes at the Kennedy compound on Friday morning, where family members were seen hugging and embracing each other as they came to terms with the latest tragedy to befall the Kennedy family
There were scenes of devastation at the sprawling Kennedy compound in Cape Cod amid news of the latest family tragedy
Law enforcement were seen speaking with relatives of Saoirse Kennedy-Hill as the investigation into her death continues
Saoirse is the granddaughter of the late Robert F Kennedy and his wife Ethel, who lives at the home where the alleged overdose occurred.
The statement quoted the Kennedy family matriarch, as saying: 'The world is a little less beautiful today. She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit.
'Saoirse was passionately moved by the causes of human rights and women's empowerment and found great joy in volunteer work, working alongside indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico. We will love her and miss her forever.'
The statement was issued to Associated Press by Brian Wright O'Connor, a spokesman for Saoirse Kennedy-Hill's uncle, former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II.
Saoirse's father was Paul Michael Hill, one of four people falsely convicted in the 1974 Irish Republican Army bombings of two pubs. Hill and Courtney Kennedy married in 1993 and welcomed their only daughter in 1997.
In it they said Saoirse cared deeply about friends and family, 'especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel.'
Police vehicles and a large media presence could be seen at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Massachusetts on Friday
Multiple generations of the Kennedy family have lived at the compound, which famously served as President John F. Kennedy's summer White House. The compound has around six homes on Nantucket Sound in Hyannis Port
In later years extended members of the Kennedy family have gathered there for various family events including one on July 4
Ethel Kennedy lives part of the year at the Cape Cod oceanside compound, which is still used as a family retreat. It was unclear whether she was at the home on Thursday.
The statement did not include a cause of death, but audio of a Barnstable police scanner call obtained by The Associated Press said officers were responding to a report of a drug overdose at the compound.
There were emotional scenes at the sprawling Kennedy compound on Friday morning, where family members were seen hugging and embracing each other as they came to terms with the latest tragedy to befall the Kennedy family.
Law enforcement officials were also seen at the compound speaking with family members as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death continues.
Just days before her death, the Boston College student had spent time with her family at their famed Massachusetts estate.
In an Instagram photo captured by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the 22-year-old was seen enjoying the sunny day as she jumped into the water.
Saoirse's aunt Kerry Kennedy paid a touching tribute to her niece on Instagram, sharing the official family statement on her death, along with several images of the 22-year-old in happier times.
One of Hill's relatives, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who is now an advocate for substance abuse and mental health treatment, tweeted in tribute to her Friday.
'Saoirse will always remain in our hearts. She is loved and will be deeply missed,' he wrote.
'Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse,' the Kennedy family said in a statement. 'Her life was filled with hope, promise and love'
Saoirse is seen with her mother Courtney Kennedy Hill at the family compound in 2016. She was Courtney's only child
Saoirse spent part of her childhood in Ireland, and often said she was proud of her Irish heritage. Her father, Paul Hill, is one of the Guildford Four, who were falsely accused of involvement in Irish Republican Army bombing. They are pictured together above
Saoirse is seen (back row third from right) celebrating her grandmother Ethel's birthday last year surrounded by family members
Saoirse's father is Paul Hill, an Irishman who was one of the Guildford Four, a group of men wrongly convicted of bombings carried out by the IRA in 1974. Hill and Courtney Kennedy (above together) married in 1993 and welcomed their only daughter in 1997
Paramedics responding to a call of a suspected overdose just after 2.30pm Thursday arrived at the scene (pictured) and found the patient in cardiac arrest
Her passing is being investigated by Barnstable police and State Police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office.
While in high school, Kennedy Hill wrote for a student newspaper about her struggles with depression and mental illness.
The Times reported that she marched last year as part of a nationwide protests against gun violence.
She was described as a 'gifted student' in the Class of 2020 at Boston College where she studied Communications in the Morrissey College of Arts and Science, the school said in a statement.
'We extend our condolences to her family on this tragic loss,' a Boston College official said. Unsurprisingly given her family history, she also served as vice president of the College Democrats.
She was expected to graduate next year and previously attended the private preparatory school Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.
The Kennedy Compound consists of multiple homes across six acres of waterfront property along Nantucket Sound in Hyannis Port
Ethel Kennedy is pictured with his wife Ethel when he was a newly elected Senator at La Guardia Airport in November 1964
While she was attending boarding school at Deerfield Academy in 2016, Saoirse penned an article for the student paper about her struggles with depression and mental illness.
She revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a friend during her junior year and attempted to take her own life.
Saoirse underwent treatment for depression before returning to school. In the article, which she penned during her senior year, she described feeling unsettled and lonely because few people on campus knew about her illness.
In the essay she wrote: 'My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life,' Saoirse wrote. 'Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest.
'Though the teen admitted that her depression episodes 'would come and go,' she said it particularly affected her during her sophomore year at the private Massachusetts prep school.
'I began isolating myself in my room, pulling away from my relationships, and giving up on schoolwork,' Saoirse recalled.
'During the last few weeks of spring term, my sadness surrounded me constantly.' But that summer after my sophomore year, my friend depression rarely came around anymore, and I was thankful for her absence,' she added.
After initially overcoming this battle with depression, Saoirse shared that she attempted suicide.
'My sense of well-being was already compromised, and I totally lost it after someone I knew and loved broke serious sexual boundaries with me,' she wrote.
'I did the worst thing a victim can do, and I pretended it hadn't happened. This all became too much, and I attempted to take my own life.'
She did not go into further detail about the person who broke her 'sexual boundaries' or state whether she reported any alleged assault.
But it seemed clear from her writing that the encounter had a serious impact on her emotionally, as she wrote about the stigma surrounding mental health and how many people feel uncomfortable talking about their well-being.
The column also focused on her return to school for her senior year after she went on medical leave to seek treatment.
She appeared to feel disappointed over the fact federal privacy law seemed to prevent her teachers and advisers from knowing what she was experiencing, and claimed that the school could have been better equipped to talk about mental illness.
Saoirse later went on to enroll at Boston College, where she was a communication major and vice president of the College Democrats.
Marcus Breen, a professor of communication at Boston College, said Kennedy Hill was an engaging student in a class he taught on social media and social justice.
In an email to The New York Times he wrote: 'In classes she was often the first student to offer an opinion on readings that demanded clear critique about the challenges of contemporary society,' he said in an email.
