Ita Noonan had just moved into a new apartment . . . one of a number in the recently renovated coach houses on the grounds of Blackwater Castle . . . when her life came to a tragic end.

Her daughter Emma, 20, and son David, 23, came to visit their mother and "best pal" last Sunday just four days after she moved into her new home in the picturesque north Cork village.

Ita was seen by Mick Gibbons, the local stonemason who renovated the apartments, sitting out in the sunshine at her front door at about 4pm on Sunday afternoon. She saluted Gibbons as he passed by.

Local gardai believe that Emma and David arrived a short time afterwards. Emma's work colleagues at the Hibernian Hotel in Mallow recalled that she was on an "unnatural high" before finishing work at 3pm on Sunday and making her way to her mother's new home.

Taking advantage of the sunny day, Ita and her two adult children decided to make the short stroll down a wooded lane beside the apartment to the banks of the Awbeg river.

The rich smell of the trees with the beams of sunlight breaking through chinks in the high trees made the wooded lane a perfect place for a walk before they arrived at the river bank.

They placed their towels on the grass where it is thought they lay out in the sun before entering the water.

At 6pm, some tourists walking along the Awbeg river noticed the towels on the river bank along with handbags, bottles of water and other personal belongings.

The following day a local woman again noticed the Noonans' personal belongings at the river bank as she passed on an early morning stroll.

A few hours later, a Limerick man and his 15year-old son were canoeing down the Awbeg river when they made the gruesome discovery of David's body floating in the water.

They immediately went to the nearest house, which turned out to be that of parish priest Fr Pat Scanlan, and contacted the emergency services.

Shortly afterwards, the bodies of Ita and her son David were recovered from the river and Emma's body was discovered at 8.30pm that evening, close to the spot where her mother and brother were found.

A local woman in Castletownroche described how the eerie silence in the village was intermittently broken by the sound of a rescue helicopter hovering over the river as the search for Emma's body continued.

"The sound of the helicopter was horrific after we found out that two bodies were recovered and the emergency services were still searching for the third body, " she explained.

Gardai in the area now believe that Emma went into the water first and she was followed by her brother and mother after she got into difficulty.

Emma and Ita were both wearing swimsuits when they were found while David had a pair of jeans on him when his body was recovered.

As Ita had previously told work colleagues that she did not know how to swim and David was wearing jeans, it appears that they jumped into the water in a vain attempt to save Emma.

The point where the Noonans lost their lives is a peaceful spot where the river widens out into a large circular pool surrounded on one side by high trees and on the other by the grass bank where they had been sunbathing before entering the water.

"The river is little more than a few feet deep when you go up or down stream a few hundred yards, but it widens out into a deep pool with undercurrents at this point. Local people do not swim here as there is a story told locally of a man drowning there over 70 years ago, " explained a local garda at the scene.

"As Ita was just living here for a few days, she would not have known about the dangers of the pool."

On Thursday, hundreds of people gathered at St Andrew's church in Kilfinnane, Co Limerick, for the funeral mass for the drowning victims. Fr Muiris O'Connor said: "We may never know what happened on that riverbank on that fateful afternoon, but we know that the three of them reached out for each other in an act of love as they tried to rescue one another."

Ita had been working as a clerical officer at Fermoy Garda Station since 1998. Inspector Pat McCarthy from the station paid a moving tribute to her at the mass.

He complimented her dedication and professionalism at work, her jovial nature and good sense of humour. He also painted a warm picture of her relationship with her children.

"It seems to be that she was more than a mother to Emma and David . . . she was their best pal, " said Inspector McCarthy.

It has emerged that Ita met one of her work colleagues in a local supermarket last Sunday morning. Her colleague told Ita that she was disappointed that she had to work on such a warm day. In a show of her characteristic warmheartedness, Ita replied, "I hope the sun shines for you on your next day off work."

Questions will always remain unanswered about the events of last Sunday.

"Why?" was the clear message on the emotional face of Ita's estranged husband David on Thursday as he watched his beloved son and daughter being lowered into their graves.

In keeping with her will, their mother's remains were cremated in Newlands Cross crematorium in Dublin on Friday.

Fr O'Connor said at the requiem mass, "It was their love for one another, and their desire to save one another, that led to the tragedy of all their lives being lost."