A former unemployed Irish woman won £27 million (US$34 million) in a 2013 Euromillions draw - and decided to give almost all of it away.

In what could be the largest act of charity ever, Margaret Loughrey, 48, decided to hand over all but US$2 million.

The $32 million would be used to revitalise her home town into a destination for tourists, giving employment to hundreds.

She purchased the historic 62-acre Herdman's Mill for $2 million and is in the process of reconstructing and renovating it into a leisure and tourism destination.

Ronan McAneny was the estate agent who sold the site to the enterprising lottery winner.

"Ms Loughrey has said to me it will probably be a 10-year plan," he said. "It will take time and obviously we have to get onboard with all the bodies.

"Initially I think the main thing is to get the site cleaned up, to get the roof back on the old mill, to get the windows replaced and to give it a general tidy-up so it begins to look how it used to look."

She also planned to purchased the town's vacant 22-acre business park and had hoped to create 80 jobs by turning it into a craft village.

Those plans were stalled by the local business development agency's zoning laws, which focus on export businesses.

Loughrey, who by her own admission was unemployed for half of her adult life and working for minimum wage at the times when she was employed, has ambitious plans for her town. She is already the director of nine companies.

Because she's experienced such hard times, she is determined to use her good fortune to help others through their tough times.

"Everyone has the right to work for a living, to support their families, to buy their own home, to run their own business – these are things everyone should have a right to do," said the selfless Strabane resident.

"People just need to be given opportunities. There is so much talent in the Strabane area – people just need to be given a chance," she said.