Joe Grogan, 75, died just one day after marrying his carer Lisa Flaherty, 50, in a ‘secret wedding’ at a registry office – his family had called for a detailed forensic investigation into his death
A millionaire farmer died one day after a ‘secret wedding’ before his fortune was inherited by his new wife.
Joe Grogan, 75, died at his home in Tullamore, Ireland on April 15, 2023 – just 24 hours after he got married to to his part-time carer, 50-year-old Lisa Flaherty, in a registry office. The wedding was not attended any of his relatives, who were unaware the couple were even in a relationship.
On Wednesday, Lisa left court in tears following a dramatic inquest, during which barristers for the Grogan family argued there were “unanswered questions” surrounding Mr Grogan’s death. A coroner rejected calls to refer the death for a detailed forensic investigation.
The inquest at Offaly Coroner’s Court in Tullamore, Ireland heard that Ms Flaherty – a special needs assistant and mother of three who was 26 years younger than her husband – now stands to inherit the 220-acre farm which is valued at €5.5 million (£4.7 million) as his widow.
The court previously heard that the cause of the farmer’s death could not be determined because it was embalmed before a postmortem could be carried out, reports the Irish Mirror. This limited the tests that could be conducted by a pathologist.
In January 2023, the farmer had been diagnosed with Stage IV Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer and had responded well to treatment. But in court, Ms Flaherty gave evidence that he believed he was dying of cancer. On Tuesday, Damien Tansey SC, representing three cousins of the deceased – Alo, Margaret and Sean Grogan – had called on the coroner, Raymond Mahon, not to return a verdict and to refer the matter to the DPP for a forensic examination of Mr Grogan’s death by gardai.
Mr Tansey said it would be most unfair to the farmer’s memory and to his family if the request was declined. Peter Jones, a solicitor for an aunt of the deceased, Teresa Mooney, separately asked the coroner to refer the death to the authorities, and to return an open verdict
Mr Jones claimed the inquest had left “an awful lot of unanswered questions” and the circumstances of Mr Grogan’s death could only be challenged by trained personnel used to investigating “suspicious deaths.”
But lawyers for Lisa Flaherty, 50, said she had been “hauled over the coals” during the three-day inquest, and claimed the 50-year-old care had “stepped up to the plate” when the family did not.
Stephen Byrne, for Ms Flaherty, said “Mr Grogan had made his own decision not to seek help from a doctor, adding: “He knew his own body, and he knew he was not going to beat this.”
Coroner Mr Mahon returned a narrative verdict based on extensive evidence, and found the farmer’s death was probably due to an infection on the balance of probabilities. He offered commiserations to all parties at the conclusion of the inquest, and said it had been “a very difficult case for everyone”.