An Irish bride-to-be who died on her way home from South Africa has been remembered as “bright and bubbly”.

Thirty-year-old Majella Donoghue and her partner Barry Doherty had just become engaged while on holiday in Cape Town.

She fell ill while travelling with her boyfriend on a flight from Cape Town to London last Sunday. She was rushed straight to hospital in London but died there from breathing difficulties.

Majella was from Belmullet in Mayo, where local priest Father John Loftus has fond memories of her.

“Every time she was at home I’d have had a chat to her. (She was) a lovely person who’d make you feel really good just talking to her,” he said, remembering her as “lovely, bright, bubbly and always in good form”.

She spent some time looking after children for a charity in Vietnam.

“She was very concerned about helping people in need,” said Fr Loftus.

Majella is survived by her mother Mary, twin brother Stephen, other brothers Tommy, David and Brendan and her sister Angela. Her father Willie died some years ago.

She worked at the Galway offices of Boston Scientific.