READ MORE- Offaly woman scoops New York lottery

Irish lottery winner Patricia Daly Eisel will very likely have to split her winnings with her separated  husband, according to an top New York marital attorney.

The Offaly born waitress won $21.9 million in the New York lottery but her former husband Jamie Eisel had recently split up with her. However she had not filed for a divorce, which was a big mistake says a top divorce lawyer.

"She's going to be splitting that money,"  Marilyn Chinitz, a top marital lawyer at Blank Rome in Manhattan told the New York Post.

"I think it's a matter of how much.

"Generally, monies that are from the lottery are deemed to be marital monies," Chinitz said.

"It's subject to equitable distribution in New York," she added.

She said the fact that the couple had only recently separated and he had continued to help raising their three kids more than likely meant he was entitled to a share.

Meanwhile Patricia who lives in Long Island cannott wait to get back to her three young boys: "I knew on January 6th I won and I got nervous,"

"They don't know what is going on, they just know Mammy is going home," she said. "I can't wait to go back and see them."