Bobby Kennedy's granddaughter, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, found dead at family estate
The 22-year-old had written about her struggles with depression following a sexual assault while at high school.
Friday 2 August 2019 16:13, UK
The granddaughter of Bobby Kennedy has been found dead at a home on the family estate in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, following an apparent overdose.
Saoirse Kennedy Hill, 22, was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's fifth child, Courtney, and Paul Michael Hill, one of the Guildford Four, who were wrongly imprisoned for the bombing of two pubs by the Irish Republican Army in 1974.
In a statement released to local media the Kennedy family said: "Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse.
"She lit up our lives with her love, her peals of laughter and her generous spirit.
"The world is a little less beautiful today," the family said, a quote from Ms Hill's 91-year-old grandmother and widow of Robert Kennedy, Ethel.
Emergency services were called to the Kennedy estate on Thursday afternoon "for a reported unattended death".
Ms Hill was rushed to Cape Cod hospital in Hyannis where she was pronounced dead.
While at high school, she had written about her struggles with mental illness following what she said was a sexual assault by someone she "knew and loved".
"My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life."
"Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest," she said in a high school column, urging the school to be more open about mental illness.
Ms Hill had been passionate about human rights, feminism and had worked with indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico, the Kennedy family said.
She also marched with her mother against gun violence in March 2018, according to local press.
Ms Hill often said she was proud of her upbringing in Ireland, along with her heritage - Saoirse means freedom in Irish Gaelic.
Her university, Boston College, confirmed to local media that she had been due to graduate in 2020.
Ms Hill's death is the latest tragedy to hit the Kennedy family, often regarded as the American equivalent of royalty.
Her grandfather Senator Robert F Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, as was his brother President John F Kennedy in 1963.
The president's son, John F Kennedy Jr., was killed in 1999 when the plane he was flying crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard; his wife and sister-in-law were on board and were also killed.
Ms Hill's uncle, David Anthony Kennedy, was found dead in a Florida hotel in 1984 after years of struggling with alcohol and drug addiction.
Another of Ms Hill's uncles, Michael Kennedy, died on New Year's Eve in 1997 in a skiing accident in Colorado at the age of 39.
And last month marked the 50th anniversary of Chappaquiddick, when 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne drowned after a car driven by Senator Edward Kennedy went off a bridge on a small island next to Martha's Vineyard.
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.