Irish woman and ex-husband go to court in Long Island $8 million lottery windfall

Patricia Daly could be forced to share her lottery winnings with deadbeat dad

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Patricia Daly won $8 million in the New York lottery last year, but ex-husband Jamie Eisel is suing her for half of the winnings.

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Patricia Daly, who won $8 million in the New York lottery last year, has appeared in court to do battle with her ex-husband Jamie Eisel. He is suing her for half of the winnings.

Daly (40) from Tullamore, County Offaly, and Jamie Eisel (41) are now divorced, after an 18-month long battle. The former couple’s three children Cory (11), Ryan (9), and Liam (5) could be questioned in court over the case.

Eisel demanded that he receive half of the lottery winning from Daly despite the fact that he had not bought the ticket and left his wife for another relationship. This was Eisel’s third marriage. He owes $8,000 to three banks in unpaid loans.

The ex-husband then rejected the $1 million payout that Daly offered him and insisted that the case go to trial.

At the time her lawyer Dorothy Gong said, "There will be no settlement now…He was offered $1m and no obligation for child support or college costs for the kids."

The initial hearing took play in Nassau County Supreme Court, in Mineola, Long Island, on Friday.

During the trial, set to continue in October, Daly could be questioned over her personal life and financial affairs.

In January last year, Daly won $21.5 million in the New York Lottery. After taxes this meant she received $8 million. She works as a waitress and was due to go to ireland for Christmas, but a blizzard kept her home and she bought a lottery ticket on a whim.

On hearing about her big windfall she said, “I will buy a home, not a house, in New York. Something very comfortable with a big, fenced-in yard that the boys can run around in.

"I know [the kids will] be thrilled when I tell them we'll also buy a dog to run around the yard with them."

Eight months later Eisel filed for divorce. He had the courts freeze the winning and left Daly and his family with a small stipend.

She had to make ends meet in her rented apartment in Long Beach, New York, whilst working in a local bar, the Saloon Bar.

Eisel works as an ironworker and foreman at his local job site.

Last summer Eisel got bad press when he had refused to give Daly some extra cash to bring their children on holidays.

At the time he said “I don’t care what people in Ireland think of me.”

Legal experts told the Irish Sun that Daly will most likely be forced by the courts to split the winning with her husband.

The trial will resume in October.

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