Irish woman won almost 27 million euros and claimed that money ruined her life

The tragic fate of a lottery millionaire: how a record £27 million win ruined Margaret Loughrey's life

As of 2013, Loughrey's win became the largest jackpot in Northern Ireland's history.

Margaret purchased her fateful EuroMillions lottery ticket during a period when she was living on unemployment benefits. After receiving the enormous sum, she immediately began spending: she bought several luxury cars (despite not having a driver's license), an old mill, and a pub. She generously gifted her relatives, giving £1 million each to her four brothers and sister, and also supported charitable organizations in her hometown of Strabane. Meanwhile, she continued to live in a modest cottage, promising to distribute cash to anyone in need. It was in this cottage that she was found dead in 2021 – tragically, shortly before the completion of her dream home, in which she was never destined to live.

Just a few months after her win, Margaret ended up in a psychiatric hospital as she posed a danger to herself and others. In 2015, she was sentenced to 150 hours of community service for attacking a taxi driver, breaking his glasses and navigator. Three years later, a court ordered her to pay £30,000 in compensation to a former employee for harassment and unjustified dismissal.

Loughrey's psychological condition rapidly deteriorated – at one point, she weighed only 35 kg. According to her brother Paul, due to mental health problems, the woman became an easy target for those who sought to take advantage of her wealth for selfish purposes. Despite generous gifts to relatives, Margaret gradually distanced herself from them as well. Her brother is convinced that the win was an unbearable burden – too much money that the woman simply couldn't handle.

In the last two weeks of her life, she categorically refused medical help. Doctors insisted on a six-month hospital stay due to serious mental illness, but Loughrey contacted a lawyer and was discharged the next day. Margaret's brother is certain that medical professionals would have definitely helped his sister if she had continued treatment.