Robert F. Kennedy, Jr shared touching photos of Hill, who spent 15 years in prison and never learned how to swim, jumping into the water from a buoy in his late “daughter’s honor.”
On Instagram Robert F. Kennedy, an uncle of Saoirse Kennedy Hill who is believed to have overdosed on drugs at the family Hyannisport compound, posted a series of touching photo carousel celebrating their family, Saoirse’s father Paul Hill, and the young woman’s pride in her Irishness.
Read more: Saoirse Kennedy Hill remembered with Irish poem during private funeral
Saoirse’s father, Paul Hill (65) is one of the surviving Guildford Four. He and three others spent over 15 years in prison for IRA bombings in Guildford, England, which they did not commit. Hill was tortured, spent five years in solitary confinement and was “ghosted” (moved from prison to prison) 38 times during those years. Since his release, he married Saoirse’s mother, Courtney Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s sister, and built a career as a leading human rights activist.
In his Instagram post, RFK Jr 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. [sic]”
The grieving Belfast man who buried his daughter earlier this week jumped into the water to honor Saoirse, who loved to swim before other members of the Kennedy clan saved him.
RFK Jr labeled the next images:
2) Baptized.
3) Rescue.
4) with Grandma Ethel, Kyra Kennedy, Sydney Lawford, and Paul Hill.
5) Seersh on HP jetty with Caroline Shriver.
6) Seersh and Kathleen Shriver.
7) Seersh at Thanksgiving with her friend David Whiteside (#TennesseeRiverkeeper).
8) with Noah Kennedy on Slip-n-Slide at Best Buddies event.
9) on Glide’s bowsprit with Noah.
10) Sailor girl. #SaoirseKennedy
In a previous post, another carousel of beautiful family photos with a photo of Hill and his daughter as the cover, RFK Jr wrote about how proud Saoirse was to be Irish and the things the recently departed 22 loved so much.
He wrote:
“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.”
He labeled the rest of the photos as follows:
2) St. Patrick’s Day with Seersh.
3) Diving for Quahogs with her cousins.
4) parachuting.
5) yoga on the deck.
6) surfing Hawaii.
7) underwater
8) Saoirse with seaweed hairdo. She considered herself a citizen of USA, Ireland, and the Ocean.
9) at RFK Human Rights event.
10) Saoirse on Glide’s bow.
Read more: Tragedy revisits the Kennedy’s once more
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