Scenes from Saoirse Kennedy Hill’s funeral
Hill was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy's fifth child, Courtney, and Paul Michael Hill.
BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) — Dozens of members of the extended Kennedy clan as well as friends from college filled a Cape Cod church on Monday to pay their final respects to Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the 22-year-old granddaughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy.
Ted Kennedy Jr., former Congressman Joe Kennedy Jr., and current U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy lll 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.
Her grandmother, 91-year-old Ethel Kennedy, was also at the funeral.
A private burial was scheduled to follow the Mass.
Ethel Kennedy is helped to the church.
Edward Kennedy Jr., left, Joseph Kennedy II, center, and his son, U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, right.
Maria Shriver, center.
Hill, who was scheduled to start her senior year at Boston College this fall, 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.
Hill was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s fifth child, Courtney, and Paul Michael Hill.
Paul Michael Hill, left, the father of Saoirse Kennedy Hill, places his hand on the hearse.
Courtney Kennedy Hill, center, looks on as the casket of her daughter, Saoirse Kennedy Hill, is taken from the hearse.
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.’’
The funeral program for Saoirse Kennedy Hill.
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
The Kennedy family in a statement released by a spokesman last week remembered Hill for her social activism, her passion about human rights and women’s empowerment and her work with indigenous communities to build schools in Mexico.
Hill had also written publicly in 2016 about her struggles with mental health and a suicide attempt while in high school at Deerfield Academy.
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
The casket of Saoirse Kennedy Hill enters Our Lady of Victory Church.
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
Mourners leave Our Lady of Victory Church.
Courtney Kennedy Hill, center, and Maria Shriver, left, leave the church.
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an Instagram post said that he thought of 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.’’
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