You South Africa – 29 August 2019

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Paulis anIrishmanwhospent 15 years

inprisonaspartofa groupofmen

knownastheGuildfordFourwhowere

wronglyconvictedofa bombingcarried

outbytheIrishRepublicanArmy(IRA)

in1974.Theirbattleforjusticewaspor-

trayedinthe 1993 filmIntheNameofthe

Father,starringDanielDay-Lewis.

HemarriedCourtneyinthe’90sbut

they separated in2006. Afterthat

Saoirse,whosenamemeans“freedom”

inGaelic,dividedhertime between

AmericaandIreland.

“Saoirsewastheloveofmylife,”hetold

mournersinanemotionaleulogyatthe

funeral.Overcomewithemotion,he

couldn’tcontinue.RFKJnrtookover,

paying heartfelt tribute to his niece as he

recalled her warm personality and ex-

pressive nature.

“She became a sister or daughter to

a hundred Kennedys, Shrivers and Law-

fords. We all considered her our own,” he

said. “She had a knack for friendship that

put her at the centre of an enormous net-

w o r k .”

Although Saoirse’s death reignited talk

of “a Kennedy curse” he insists that peo-

plejustneedtolookatherlifetoseehow

blessedthefamilyactuallyis.

“Ifanybodyeverwonderedwhether

GodlovestheKennedystheproofis that

hegaveusSaoirse.”S

SOURCES:PEOPLE.COM,DAILYMAIL.CO.UK,CNN.COM,SUN.CO.UK

ofherlifeSaoirsefinisheda university

essay, had dinner with her grandmother

then went out on the town with a friend,

staying up to watch the sunrise on a

beach near the compound before going

to sleep.

“Itwasa perfectnightand,aswasher

habit,shedocumentedmuchofiton

socialmedia,”hesaid,addingshewas

excited about flying to Los Angeles the

following day.

But that trip never happened. Saoirse

was found unconscious later in the after-

noon and was taken to a nearby hospital

where she was pronounced dead.

It’s still not clear what exactly caused

her death. Her family say that although

she had problems, she didn’t experi-

ment with recreational drugs but it’s

suspected she may have overdosed on

prescription pills, either accidentally or

intentionally.

TheKennedyshopea pendingtoxicol-

ogyreportwillprovidemoreanswers.

“Our hearts are shattered by the loss of

our beloved Saoirse,” they said in a state-

ment.

Dozensofrelatives,includingCaroline

Kennedy,thedaughterofJohnF Ken-

nedy,andhisnieceMariaShriver,who

wasformerlymarriedtoactorArnold

Schwarzenegger, descended on the com-

poundfora Catholicwake.

Ata privatefamilyfuneraltwodays

later at Our Lady of Victory Church in

Cape Cod, Saoirse’s father, Paul, helped

carry her coffin while her grief-stricken

motherandgrandmotherlookedon.

Thesprawlingtwo-hectareestateison

primewaterfrontpropertyintheresiden-

tialvillageofHyannisPort,Massachusetts.

ItwasoriginallyownedbyJosephP Kenne-

dy,fatherofJohn,RobertandEdward,and

todaycontainsthreehouses.

It’softenbeenusedbythefamilyastheir

summerresidencebutservedasanopera-

tionsbaseforJFKwhenhewasrunningfor

presidentin1960.

Todayhissister-in-law,Ethel(91),still

livesontheproperty.

HisbrotherEdwardlivedinthemain

houseuntilhisdeathin 2009 butit’ssince

beenearmarkedforuseasa museumand

conferencevenue.

NONSTOP HEARTACHE

Saoirse isn’t the only one in the clan

to die young. There have been so many

untimely deaths in the family dynasty

that some believe the family is cursed.

SPresident John

F Kennedy was assas-

sinated at the age of

46 in 1963 on a visit

to Dallas, Texas.

SSenator Robert

F Kennedy, John’s

brother and Saoirse’s

grandfather, was as-

sassinatedattheage

of 42 in 1968 inLos

Angeles during his

own presidential run.

STheir sister, Kath-

leen Cavendish, died in

a plane crash in 1948.

SDavid Kennedy – one

of Robert and Ethel’s

11 children – was found

dead in a Florida hotel

room in 1984 having

overdosed on a cock-

tail of cocaine, painkill-

ers and tranquillisers.

SJohn F Kennedy Jnr,

the former president’s

son, died in 1999 when

the plane he was fly-

ing crashed into the

Atlantic Ocean off

Martha’s Vineyard,

Massachusetts.

YOU NEWS

ABOVE LEFT: Paul wept as his daughter’s coffin was loaded into a hearse after an emotion-

alfuneralatOurLadyofVictoryChurchinCapeCod.ABOVE MIDDLE: Kennedy matriarch

Ethelwasgrief-stricken.ABOVERIGHT:Courtneygota helping hand from her cousin

Maria Shriver as she left the church after the service.

THE KENNEDY COMPOUND

you.co.za 29 AUGUST 2019 | (^87)