The Irish woman who lost her life in the latest Malaysian airlines disaster was returning from a trip to Ireland from Australia to nurse her ailing mother. Dubliner Edel Mahady was returning to her family in Perth when she died aboard the jet hit by a rebel missile over Ukrainian air space.

The mother of two had been visiting family in her native Palmerstown for a fortnight before the air crash which claimed almost 300 lives. Her mother had been injured after a fall.

The Irish Independent reports that Mahady had told her mother “I’ll see you again” before departing for her adopted home of Australia.

The report adds that she visited her mother in Dublin several times a year and was on the second leg of her journey back to Perth via Kuala Lumpur.

Palmerstown local parish priest Fr Tony Reilly told the paper: “She said her goodbyes to her mother before she left for the airport and said ‘I’ll see you again.”

“I have visited the family and they are grieving. They can’t believe it. They are grieving and greatly shocked and traumatised.

“There is a great bond. Edel was very attentive to her mother and came frequently to visit her.”

In her 50s, Mahady and her Irish husband Dermot had set up a new life in Perth where they lived with their two children.

She worked as a school administrator at the Good Shepherd Catholic School outside the Australian city.

She is the first cousin of the wife of Labour deputy Willie Penrose.

Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has offered his ‘deepest sympathies’ to Mahady’s family.

He said: “I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the crash of flight MH17, and the sudden loss of almost 300 innocent lives. My thoughts are with the families of all those around the globe who lost their lives in this tragic incident.

“I encourage all the authorities involved - and the parties to the conflict in Ukraine - to work together, to ensure that the hundreds of families who have been bereaved can get the answers they need.”