Revealed: Widow branded a 'gold digger' after secretly marrying super rich farmer a DAY before he died is 'broken' by his bitter family's claims

Revealed: Widow branded a 'gold digger' after secretly marrying super rich farmer a DAY before he died is 'broken' by his bitter family's claims

A widow who was all but accused of murdering her wealthy, much older husband to get his hands on his money has been left ‘broken’ at the portrayal of her as a cold-hearted gold digger.

When Lisa Flaherty, a 50-year-old mother-of-three, married dying landowner Joseph Grogan, 75, in secret, he was in the final stages of his long fight against blood cancer.

Both Ms Flaherty and Mr Grogan, who had no children of his own, knew he didn’t have long left to live, and his motivation was to secure the financial future of the woman who had cared for him - and guarantee her right to inherit his €5.5million estate.

As it turned out his death came just 24 hours later and his body was  embalmed within hours, making it virtually impossible to determine a definite cause of death.

Mr Grogan's passing sparked a bitter war of words between Ms Flaherty and his family, who are fighting her for his 230-acre farm in the rural village of Screggan, a sleepy, forgotten backwater in Co Offaly, central Ireland.

They paint a picture of Ms Flaherty as a calculating black widow who, sensing an opportunity to get her hands on his estate, moved in with him in January 2023 to become his carer when he was first diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

He died three months later on April 15 of that year.

But their story is a lot more complicated than that - with her friends keen to point out that it goes all the way back to 1991 when Ms Flaherty was 16 and had just finished school and he was a 41-year-old farmer, some 25 years her senior.

They were together for some years before they split when Ms Flaherty reached her early 20s.

She went on to marry a local man, with whom she had three children; two girls called Danielle and Emma and a son, Darcy. All are now in their mid 20s.

(Lisa Flaherty (above) married dying landowner Joseph Grogan in secret when he was in the final stages of his long fight against blood cancer)

(Mr Grogan (above) knew he didn’t have long left to live, and his motivation was to secure the financial future of the woman who had cared for him - and guarantee her right to inherit his €5.5million estate)

(Mr Grogan's passing sparked a bitter war of words between Ms Flaherty and his family, who are fighting her for his 230-acre farm (above) in Ireland)

But all the while, say friends, Joseph was an ever-present in her life, in the background and the pair remained close. He was seen very much as a father figure to her son and two daughters growing up, they say.

It’s why those close to Ms Flaherty told MailOnline that she has been left ‘broken’ at the suggestion that she ‘engineered’ his death for financial gain. During an inquest into his death last week, she broke down on several occasions and had to leave the court as lawyers for the Grogan family called into question her credibility.

Those who know the couple in Screggan, which is made up of a shop, a pub, an off-licence, a hair salon and around 100 homes, say behind the salacious headlines lies an unorthodox tale of enduring love and commitment between the two.

(The late farmer's cousin, Sean Grogan, at Tullamore Court)

(Joe's farmhouse (above) sits at the heart of the farm in the rural village of Screggan, a sleepy, forgotten backwater in Co Offaly)

(During an inquest into his death last week, Ms Flaherty (above) broke down on several occasions)

(After splitting from her husband, Ms Flaherty raised her children in a modest three-bedroom terraced home (above) which is a five-minute walk from the entrance to Mr Grogan's sprawling farm)

Ref: Revealed: Widow branded a 'gold digger' after secretly marrying super rich farmer a DAY before he died is 'broken' by his bitter family's claims