Tragic Saoirse Kennedy’s father has been pictured jumping into the sea from a buoy ‘in his daughter’s honor’ before being rescued in the water by members of her extended family.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. shared touching images from the event Wednesday explaining that grieving dad Paul Hill never learnt to swim ‘having spent most of his adult life in 38 British prisons’ but said he was determined to take the plunge.
The 66-year-old spent 15 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted in 1975 of the Guildford pub bombing in which five people were killed.
He went on to marry Courtney Kennedy – the daughter of assassinated presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. shared the images of grieving dad Paul Hill taking the plunge online on Wednesday
RFK Jr said in his post Hill never learnt to swim ‘having spent most of his adult life in 38 British prisons’. The 66-year-old spent 15 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted in 1975 of the Guildford pub bombing in which five people were killed
Pictures show Hill as he jumps into the water before being rescued by members of the Kennedy family
Their daughter Saoirse, 22, was found unresponsive around 2.30pm on August 1 at the Kennedy compound in Cape Cod, Massachusetts from a suspected drug overdose.
Robert wrote: ‘Saoirse’s Dad, Paul Hill, has a terror of both heights and water. Having grown up in the catholic ghetto of the Falls Road in Belfast, and spent most of his adult life in 38 British prisons, he never learned to swim.
‘Nevertheless,he wanted to jump off the HH buoy in Saoirse’s honor. He asked us to be there to rescue him when he hit the water.’
Pictures show Hill as he jumps into the water and later with Ethel Kennedy, the widow of Robert ‘Bobby’ Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 while running as the Democrats’ candidate to be President.
In an earlier post Robert Jr added: ‘Saoirse’s father Paul Hill served 15 years in British prisons after UK Police tortured him into confessing to an IRA bombing that he did not commit.
‘The Daniel Day Lewis film, “In the Name of the Father” chronicles his story.
‘In 1993, four years after his release, Paul married my sister Courtney, a human rights activist. Saoirse, whose name is Gaelic for “freedom” was passionate about justice and her Irish heritage.’
Hill, second right, was later pictured with with Ethel Kennedy, left, the widow of Robert ‘Bobby’ Kennedy, Kyra Kennedy, second left, Sydney Lawford, third left and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., far right
Saoirse, 22, far left with Noah Kennedy and with her dad right, was found unresponsive at the Kennedy compound in Cape Cod, Massachusetts from a suspected drug overdose. Saoirse was the daughter of Courtney Kennedy and Paul Michael Hill, and the granddaughter of the late Robert F Kennedy and his wife Ethel. She is pictured right with her dad
RFK Jr – a prominent environmental activist – has been leading the tributes to Saoirse since the shocking news of her death
The famous family had rallied around each other at their historic six-acre waterfront estate in the two days since Saoirse’s death. She is pictured right with Noah Kennedy on Slip-n-Slide at Best Buddies event
Officials haven’t released the official cause of death and the autopsy revealed no relevant trauma. A toxicology report is pending.
RFK JR – a prominent environmental activist and attorney – has been leading the tributes to Saoirse since the shocking news of her death on Thursday.
He was seen on Saturday afternoon with around 20 young family members as they took a smaller boat out to their yacht in the harbor.
Among those on board were RFK Jr’s brother, Joseph P. Kennedy II, as well as his son, Conor Kennedy.
Conor – who famously dated Taylor Swift in 2012 – was seen aboard the boat with his shirt wrapped around his head.
He appeared to be consoling his father, whom he hugged tightly, as other members of the dynasty sat somberly in vessel.
Also spotted on board were Saoirse’s second cousins – Joey Shriver, the grandson of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Teddy Kennedy III, the grandson of the late Senator Edward Kennedy.
How one of the Guildford Four married into the Kennedy dynasty after 15 years in jail for horrific bombing he didn’t commit and now mourns daughter Saoirse
Paul Michael Hill pictured with his daughter Saoirse
Paul Michael Hill, 66, spent 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before marrying Courtney Kennedy – the daughter of assassinated presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.
The death of their daughter Saoirse is the latest tragedy to have befallen Mr Hill, who had a Hollywood movie made about his life in 1993, four years after his release from prison.
The film charted his life before and after being wrongly convicted alongside friends Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson for the horrific 1974 bombings at the Horse & Groom and the Seven Stars pub in which four off-duty soldiers and one civilian were killed.
His conviction was finally quashed as unsafe in 1989 and Hill was released from prison. In 1990, a year after his release, Mr Hill was invited alongside Gerry Conlon to testify before a congressional hearing on human rights.
It was there that he met Ethel Kennedy, the mother of his future wife, Courtney. Mrs Kennedy was impressed by Mr Hill and later recalled ‘What he said, and how he said it, was very powerful.’
She quickly introduced herself and invited him to her family’s New York home to meet Courtney.
Courtney, a former human rights activist and representative for a UN Aids foundation, said of their meeting in her apartment: ‘He was so charming and we soon realized we had the same humor to face adversity.’
After a three-year courtship, the pair got married on a yacht in the Aegean sea. the couple had their daughter, Saoirse Roisin Kennedy-Hill, in 1997.
But Mr Hill admitted that his prison experience had left him scarred and ‘angry’ and his temper took its toll on the couple’s marriage.
After 13 years together, the couple separated in 2006.
The Boston College student, pictured at Thanksgiving with her friend David Whiteside, described how she sought treatment after she attempted to take her own life two weeks before her junior year began at preparatory school, Deerfield Academy
Members of the political dynasty have gathered to pay tribute to Saoirse, pictured here with Kathleen Shriver
The famous family had rallied around each other at their historic six-acre waterfront estate in the two days since Saoirse’s death.
The Boston College student had described how she sought treatment after she attempted to take her own life two weeks before her junior year began at the prestigious preparatory school, Deerfield Academy.
On Saturday, RFK Jr shared a photo that showed Saoirse’s cousins sitting around a fire pit at the Kennedy compound on Friday evening as they remembered the life of the late Boston University student.
The 65-year-old also uploaded a number of throwback snaps that showed Saoirse spending previous summers at the estate in the company of her extended family.
Meanwhile, RFK Jr’s daughter and Saoirse’s first cousin, Kick Kennedy, shared her own tribute to Instagram.
‘Saoirse. You were my little sister…’ the actress and socialite wrote.
‘You changed my life and I love you and I don’t know what else to say. I love you. I miss you. I love you so much.’
Robert F Kennedy Jr led a group sailing trip at the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts after the shock death of Saoirse
The Kennedys and their friends head out to their sailboat to honor Saoirse Kennedy Hill. Soairse’s is the latest in a long line of tragedies stretching back to the 1940s to have struck America’s most famous political dynasty
Saoirse’s second cousin, Teddy Kennedy III, also uploaded an emotional post to his social media account.
‘Rest In Peace Saoirse. I love and miss you so much. Some candles burn away slowly, but yours burned hot and brightly for your entire life,’ the 21-year-old Wesleyan University student wrote.
Soairse’s unexpected death at such a young age has shocked the nation, and is the latest in a long line of tragedies stretching back to the 1940s to have struck America’s most famous political dynasty.
There were emotional scenes at the sprawling Kennedy compound on Friday, where family members were seen hugging and embracing each other following her death.
Her grandmother Ethel Kennedy, 91, and mother Courtney Kennedy Hill, appeared anguished as they were spotted on a golf cart returning to the compound after a brief outing.