Millionaire, 75, died a DAY after marrying girlfriend, 50, who inherited his fortune after he was embalmed within hours

The Sun

16-07-2025

A MILLIONAIRE farmer who died just a day after marrying his girlfriend was embalmed with "undue haste" an inquest has heard.
Joseph Grogan 75, died a day after marrying his girlfriend Lisa Flaherty, 50, in April 2023.
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Flaherty now stands to inherit Joseph's 220 acre farm in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, which is valued at €5.5 million (£4.77 million).
Mr Grogan was diagnosed in early January 2023 with stage 4, high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
He underwent four rounds of chemotherapy, developing infections after two of them.
But, the court heard he had been responding well to treatment.
Mr Grogen died at his home at around 3pm on April 15, 2023, a day after marrying Ms Flaherty at a registry office.
The coroner said Mr Grogan's death was likely due to a "probability of infection" with his immune system compromised.
But he was embalmed within a matter of hours, a time frame Coroner Raymond Mahon said made it difficult to determine a definitive cause of death.
During a three-day inquest, Peter Jones, the solicitor representing Mr Grogan's 90-year-old aunt said "an awful lot of unanswered questions" remain.
He also pointed to the "undue haste" with which he said Mr Grogan's remains were taken to be embalmed.
Barrister Damien Tansey, representing Mr Grogan's cousins, pushed for the Gardai to conduct a forensic investigation before the coroner came to a decision.
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Coroner Mahon, however, dismissed the suggestion.
According to Mr Tansey Mr Grogan's death, which he called "sudden and unexpected" had caused a stir in the community.
He went on to claim that the concerns raised by residents of the local area and the medical community had not been addressed by the inquest.
A pathologist had confirmed that cancer had not been the cause of death, and neither was organ failure.
Pathologist Charles d'Adhemar had warned that if the three medications Mr Grogan had been prescribed were not administered correctly, it could depress his respiratory and nervous systems.
Mr Tansey claimed that the speedy embalming procedure meant the pathologist could not test for drugs in the deceased's system.
Ms Flaherty had repeatedly claimed that her husband had inoperable, stage four cancer and was at the end of life stage - something his family disputed.
Mr Tansey said "none of that evidence is true or accurate."
Ms Flaherty also claimed to have been in a long term relationship with Mr Grogan, despite having several other partners and three children with other men.
She claimed their relationship began when she was just 16, a claim Mr Tansey said caused a great deal of anxiety to the Grogan family.
He added that the secrecy of the marriage was concerning.
Ms Flaherty's sister is said to have not known about the marriage until the day after it had happened.
The coroner said he would not rule on the validity of the marriage between Mr Grogan and Ms Flaherty.
And Stephen Byrne, representing Ms Flaherty, said that Mr Tansey had all but accused her of causing Mr Grogan's death.
He went on to say that he had been concerned the inquest into Mr Grogan's death would be used to attack the good name of Ms Flaherty.
He added that the threshold for further investigation, valid, legitimate suspicions, had not been met.
Friends or family of Mr Grogan could have gone over Ms Flaherty's head and called a doctor but did not, he said.
Mr Byrne continued, saying that the person who stepped up and cared for Mr Grogan - Ms Flaherty - had been "dragged over the coals."
Mr Byrne said: "He knew his own body, and he knew he was not going to beat this [cancer]."
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On the day of Mr Grogan's death Ms Flaherty's sister and neighbour, a psychiatric nurse with a qualification in palliative care, had been called and told Mr Grogan's condition was deteriorating.
After arriving at his house she was told by Ms Flaherty that she had called an ambulance at around 10:30 am.
She said she was told the paramedic advised that palliative care in would not be available until Monday, and that Mr Grogan had said he wanted to stay at home.
Mr Tansey would go on to question a number of other people at the inquest including Mr Martin Keyes – a lorry driver, part-time undertaker and family friend.
Mr Tansey asked: "Why did you remove the body with such indecent haste to be embalmed?"
And Mr Keyes replied: "There was no haste. It was about 7.30pm by the time I took Joe Grogan to Longford. He died at 3pm I think."
Further questions were then raised about why Mr Grogan's body had been released without a doctors permission, which Ms Flaherty had told Mr Keyes she had received.
Mr Keyes agreed that he had never seen a death certificate for Mr Grogan and knew now that the doctor on call could not have given his consent for the body to be removed, as he was not Mr Grogan's treating GP.
The inquest ultimately ruled that Mr Grogan died of natural causes linked to cancer and his treatment.
The coroner said Mr Grogan's death was likely due to a "probability of infection" with his immune system compromised.
He added that there were "valid concerns" about Mr Grogan's care but said it must be remembered that the deceased was very reluctant to see a doctor.
The three-day-long inquest at a court in Tullamore came to a close today, July 16, with Ms Flaherty fleeing from the court in tears.