DEIRDRE McShane's "response to life's challenges was to expand her heart and soul", mourners at the funeral of the community midwife were told.
The 58-year-old drowned while swimming with a friend in the sea at Ballycastle on December 9.
Family and friends gathered at noon today in St Mary's and St Joseph's Church, Ballintoy, where her cousin Fr Brendan Hickland described her as "a blessing to so many".
"Her hands and feet visiting countless new mothers advising them to feed their babies naturally, and holding countless numbers of babies, some she helped deliver and hold in infancy, the countless phone calls made to check if mothers and families were OK," he said.
"Her confidentiality, commitment and professionalism were so well respected by those who came in contact with her and by her work colleagues so many of whom she counted among her wide circle of friends."
Fr Hickland praised the courage of her friend Moya who tried valiantly to save her life, "holding her hand as they both tried courageously to get out of the water and then getting Deirdre onto your own back Moya, to try and get her to safety".
He also praised Áine Patterson "leaving her dog to plunge forward so selflessly to assist Moya and then go back for Deirdre, her friend who returned to the water's edge and who along with Andrew attempted CPR on Deirdre".
"If it were not for you Moya and Aine who knows if the sea would ever have given Deirdre's body back.
"...If it were not for you and the immediate professional and caring response of the emergency services, (her partner) Joe, (children) Roisin and Odhran, Sarah and her siblings and family might be still wondering if there was anything else that could have been done for Deirdre. There wasn’t because of you all."
Fr Hickland said the mother-of-two was "honest, unassuming and learned in life to be true to her values and high standards".
"Sometimes that made her uncompromising in what she needed to say especially when it came to healthy living or well-being. How many times have we heard her advising us or indeed telling us not to eat something because it was bad for out health? She didn't mince her words, but it was only because she cared so much and she made you think."
Her cousin said she "would almost demand that you too would join the swim rise group and the skinny dippers swimming group or at least do something to get healthy" and "lived by her own advice".
The priest praised her "energy and enthusiasm", saying she and her partner "oozed contentment and enjoyment where others sometimes just lived life as just another day".
"Her courage matched her enthusiasm for life, and it is such an enigma that Deirdre who loved the fire and the range the heat and the hot water bottle loved jumping into the sea every morning," he said.
