Tributes paid to young Longford mother-of-three who lost her battle with cancer

Heart-trending tributes have been paid to 28-year-old Longford woman Jacinta (Cinta) McDonnell, who lost her courageous fight for life during the early hours of Sunday morning at Dublin’s Mater Hospital.

Jacinta, or Cinta as she was known more fondly among her family and friends, had been bravely battling illness for the past number of months.

Members of Cinta’s heartbroken family paid a series of emotional tributes on social media over the weekend as news of her death emerged.

Her parents, Mary and William Mears said they were at a loss as to explain how the events of the past 48 hours had impacted them.

“My baby, my best friend, our beautiful angel daughter, Cinta, we will never stop loving and missing you,” they wrote on Facebook.

“Our hearts are broken forever.

“God wanted you but we wanted you more

“Heaven has gained the most beautiful angel.. We love you so much, our beautiful girl.

Her sister Shakira followed suit, saying the tragedy was something she was struggling to come to terms with.

“A beautiful sister, our very own angel,” she poignantly wrote.

“I’ll always love you. You have my heart, forever my best friend. I don’t know how I’m gonna do this without you.”

Those sentiments have been echoed by many of Cinta’s neighbours and the wider local community.

One friend spoke of how the young woman had left an indelible mark on all who had known her.

“This beautiful young woman, only 28 years old and only a young woman with her whole life ahead of her,” they wrote.

“It's absolutely heartbreaking. She did fight so hard to stay with her husband and three little baby girls. Life can be so cruel.”

Another friend said the news had sent shockwaves through the locality, adding that the timing of her death had been especially heart-wrenching on her family and those closest to her.

“Today (Sunday) her husband should be celebrating Father’s Day with her but instead he’s grieving his wife. The whole nation was behind you Cinta,” they wrote.

The late Cinta McDonnell will be laid to rest in Ballymacormack Cemetery on Wednesday after funeral mass at St Mel’s Cathedral at 11am.

She is survived by her husband Ned, daughters Sherri, Shantia and Milana, mother Mary, father William, sisters Samantha, Shakira, Charmaine and Mia, brothers William, Brandon, Nathan and Leon, mother-in-law Mary, father-in-law Paddy, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.