Saoirse Kennedy Hill was laid to rest on Monday.
Daily Mail reports Saoirse’s family held a private burial service at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, Mass. The funeral comes nearly four days after news broke about the young socialite’s tragic death. On Thursday, Aug. 1, The New York Times reported that Saoirse suffered an apparent overdose at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. She was only 22-years-old.
Additionally, the famous family confirmed Saoirse’s death in a statement. It read: “Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse. Her life was filled with hope, promise and love.”
She was the only daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill and Paul Hill, and the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy. According to the Daily Mail, Hill’s father couldn’t hold back his tears as he walked by his daughter’s coffin. Additionally, Courtney was seen hugging mourners outside of the service.
Ethel Kennedy, Saoirse’s grandmother and RFK’s widow, also honored her granddaughter in the same family statement. “She cared deeply about friends and family, especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel, who said, ‘The world is a little less beautiful today.'”
Ethel continued in the statement, “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.”
While Saoirse’s death is currently still under investigation, on Thursday, the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s office confirmed to E! News that emergency personnel rushed to the Kennedy Compound in Mass. at approximately 3:00 p.m.
Saoirse was transported to Cape Cod Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed there was “no trauma inconsistent with lifesaving measures.” As of Thursday, the cause and manner of her death were pending a toxicology report.
News of Saoirse’s passing has brought attention to her 2016 student newspaper essay. She penned a moving piece about mental health awareness and even shared her own struggles with depression.
“My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life,” she wrote at the time. “Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest. These bouts would come and go, but they did not outwardly affect me until I was a new sophomore at Deerfield.”
She also noted that mental health can be a hard subject for people to talk about, which is why not many are “aware of the sufferers.”
“Many people are suffering, but because many people feel uncomfortable talking about it, no one is aware of the sufferers. This leaves people feeling even more alone,” she shared, adding, “We are all either struggling or know someone who is battling an illness; let’s come together to make our community more inclusive and comfortable.”
Our thoughts go out to Saoirse’s family and friends at this time.
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