Mother of two Orla O'Driscoll, who drowned alongside her three-year-old daughter Mura when her car was washed into a river in a flash flood last week, was described at her Requiem Mass as a wonderful wife who adored her children.
Orla's husband Finbarr addressed the congregation at St Finbarr's church in Bantry, Co Cork yesterday morning.
He said he enjoyed every minute of his time with Orla and Mura even though their lives were cut tragically short.
"Thank you for every minute and every day of life. I was fortunate to have a wife like you who gave birth to two wonderful children and flawlessly reared them."
Orla and Mura died last Thursday when the jeep in which they were travelling was swept in to a tributary of the Coomhola river, near Bantry, in flash flooding.
Ms O'Driscoll managed to save her six-year-old son Fionnán by hoisting him on to a riverbank but she was unable to lift toddler Mura sufficiently far so that her son could reach her.
The Requiem Mass was concelebrated by seven priests including Orla's uncle, Father Tom O'Shea, who travelled from Brazil for the occasion.
Father O'Shea said it was understandable that Orla's and Mura's loved ones would like nothing more than to turn back the hands of time.
However, he said that even though Orla's life was relatively brief she and little Mura brought so much happiness to the people around them.
"All of us who are close to Orla know she lived her life fully," Father O'Shea added.
"We would have wished that you had more time but it was not meant to be. She brought joy to so many lives. It was great over the last two days to hear people speak of her. What she meant to them and the joy she brought to people's lives."
Father O'Shea paid tribute to the people of Bantry who he said had exhibited tremendous warmth and generosity towards the O'Driscoll family in their time of need.
He added that Orla and Mura had an impact on many people during their brief time on earth.
"She \ lived her life intensively and loved her husband and created a wonderful family. She touched us in many ways. "At a time like this we put our sorrow in the hands of the Lord, also the sorrow of Finbarr and all the rest of her family.
"The length of our lives is often blessed but it is not the only blessing. The only thing is to live life to the full," Father O'Shea said.
There were poignant scenes at the church as classmates of Orla's surviving son, Fionnán, sang a number of hymns as Gaeilge.
Fionnán is in high infants at Gaelscoil Bheanntraí. Mura was due to have enrolled there next September.
The church was full as locals paid their last respects to mother and daughter. The O'Driscolls had made many friends in the locality in spite of only moving in to their renovated farmhouse four months ago. A picture of mother and daughter in happier times was placed on the coffin in the church. Mura and Orla were laid to rest side by side in one coffin at Abbey Cemetery in Bantry yesterday following 11 a.m. Requiem Mass.