GLOWING tributes have been paid to Inishowen drowning victim Lorraine ‘Chris’ Plummer at her funeral in Derry.
Mourners gathered to pay their respects at her funeral in St Mary’s Church in the Creggan.
A native of Derry, Chris had settled in Inishowen and fell in love with it.
Friends said she will be missed by everyone who knew her, and was very kind-hearted by nature.
The dead woman had many passions including gardening, salsa dancing and archery, and also took an interest in geology.
She was also a keen photographer and recently had her pictures published in the Donegal Daily, mourners were told.
Relatives said she was deeply loved by her whole family.
Her sister Sandra said Chris had a gentle nature, would always put other people in front of herself and helped look after elderly family members.
She said she regularly visited her mother in Derry at weekends and would go out of her way for others.
Sandra said it will be very difficult for the family to deal with the loss of her “beautiful” sister.
“Everybody would say she was very loving, very caring and very considerate– she was beautiful, too,” said Sandra.
“She was just really sweet and lovely. She was always going out of her way for people.
“She’ll leave a huge hole – it’s going to be very hard for us to get by without her.”
It was while she was exploring her interest in geology on Monday at Rockstown Bay near Clonmany that the tragedy occurred.
She was out on a small island identifying rock specimens and taking notes and photographs to record what she had discovered, when she encountered difficulty after being cut off from the mainland as the tide came in.
It’s thought she tried to make her way back and went into the water.
Her body was found close to the Rockstown Harbour area on the Inishowen Peninsula at about 5.30pm that day following a search.
Ms Plummer is survived by her parents, sister, and brothers John, Eamon and Stephen.