Patricia Carrick, who received an apology from the Taoiseach after her cancer diagnosis was missed, has died aged 51.

Her husband Damien said on Twitter that she had died peacefully overnight and "is now at peace".

Last month, the Health Service Executive and and a medical laboratory apologised to Ms Carrick for negligence and breach of duty over the misreading of one of her smear tests.

The apology came after she settled her High Court action for €2.75m in damages.

She underwent treatment but suffered a relapse in February and was too ill to attend the October court hearing.

In a message to Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Carrick described his wife as the love of his life and said the family were heartbroken by her death.

He described her as "best mother that anyone could wish for" and thanked the public for their messages of support.

Mr Carrick said: "Dear Joe, she is the love of my life and we have been through many challenges and we have always prevailed.

"She is best mother that anyone could wish for and a wonderful wife, a true friend, a great sister, daughter, aunt and niece. 

"I met Trish 30 years in March 1990, and we started dating the following May, engaged two years later, and we would be 27 years married next March.

"I am heartbroken for me and our children. We've lost a wonderful person. I'm heartbroken for her family and mine, and our extended family and our friends."

President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to her courage and said he was "greatly saddened" to hear of her death.

In a statement he said: "As President of Ireland, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, may I express the sorrow of the people of Ireland and our sympathies with her family and friends.

"I spoke to her husband Damien and family on the 1st November and to her father Pat O'Sullivan, a long-time friend, at the beginning of November. Patricia's and Damien's families were well-known to me for years.

"I know that Patricia's courage, which I know she held to the very end, and her grace as a campaigner, provide some solace to her loved ones at this difficult time.

"It is also appropriate at this time to think of all those who were failed by a system in which they had trusted, and their loved ones."

Speaking during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin also conveyed his sincere sympathies to Ms Carrick's family.

Ms Carrick, of Oranmore, Co Galway, along with her husband Damien, had sued the HSE claiming tests taken under the national cervical screening programme were misdiagnosed or misreported and failures in her care delayed a cancer diagnosis.

She had a routine smear test in 2014 and the cytology report issued showed no evidence of neoplasia. Another smear test in 2016 also showed no evidence of neoplasia.

In 2018, a further cervical smear test under the national screening programme was reported as unsatisfactory for assessment and Ms Carrick was advised she needed to have a repeat smear test in three months.

In February 2019, she had a smear test, which was reported as showing no abnormalities. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer five months later, which had spread to her pelvic lymph nodes.

Women's health campaigner Vicky Phelan said her heart goes out to Ms Carrick's husband and their four children.

Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene died in July 2017 from cervical cancer aged 35, also offered his condolences to the Carrick family.

Note from Damien Carrick, husband of the Trish (Patricia) Carrick, a cervical cancer sufferer who died today:

Dear Joe, she is the love of my life and we have been through many challenges and we have always prevailed.

She is best mother that anyone could wish for and a wonderful wife, a true friend, a great sister, daughter, aunt and niece.

I met Trish 30 years in March 1990, and we started dating the following May, engaged two years later, and we would be 27 years married next March.

I am heartbroken for me and our children. We've lost a wonderful person. I'm heartbroken for her family and mine, and our extended family and our friends.

To all of you that sent a text or thought about sending one, made a phone call or thought about making that call. And all of you that said a prayer or even thought for a split second about Trish, thank you.

You've made her journey that little bit easier by helping Ciarán, Ríoghna, Sorcha, Eoin and myself to be with her, holding her hand or making her laugh, or just giving us the space to be with Trish.

Trish is making her journey now to be reunited with our baby girl Aisling, and to be with her mother.

Our journey now takes a different path, one with Trish by our sides to guide us and they give us the strength to live our lives to the full, exactly as Trish would have wanted. 

Good night, my sweetheart, my Trish, my lovely wife, and wonderful mother. Until we meet again.

Damien Carrick.