The winner of this month’s record-breaking Irish Lotto prize has come forward. Whether he or she chooses to remain anonymous or put their name in the public domain remains in the balance.
What’s assured, though, is the fat sum of €19,060,800. The winning ticket was bought in Mayo and the six correct numbers were selected via the quick-pick option.
The jackpot had been capped a while back and, in the end, rolled over a lengthy 62 draws before it was finally won to feature atop the latest Irish Lotto results. The rollovers started as far back as early June 2021 – that’s a stretch of over seven months.
“Saturday night was such a huge draw and one that’s been the talk of the town for the week now, so we are absolutely over the moon to have played a part in this,” exclaimed the owner of the shop where the triumphant ticket was purchased.
“The winner truly is the luckiest player in Ireland now and we wish them all the very best with their win.
“The entire county really has been buzzing with chatter about the Lotto jackpot since the weekend with everyone wondering where exactly the winning ticket was sold. “When I heard that our store was the lucky location, I was in a complete state of shock. I knew that it was a Castlebar shop, but finding out was completely overwhelming.
“We get customers from all over as Castlebar is such a popular shopping town. The winner could be from Bangor Erris, Claremorris or Ballinrobe, anywhere. “I have my regulars but there’s plenty coming from further afield. Whoever won, I wish them the best of luck.”
There had been so many rollovers that it was decided that the latest winner would win the main prize, even if the usual six digits were not guessed correctly. That meant whoever guessed the most numbers correctly – five, four or perhaps even less – would take home the jackpot.
As luck and perhaps even Murphy’s law would have it, though, this clause was not needed in the end as all six digits were ultimately guessed correctly this time.
The winning numbers for the main draw, this time, in case you were wondering, were 2, 9, 16, 30, 37 and 40, with a bonus number of 23.
This new record outdid the previous Irish lottery record by €100,000. This €18.9 million was won back in June 2008, when a syndicate from Carlow claimed the record jackpot of now more than a decade ago. That 16-person syndicate, out of interest, featured 15 men and a woman – and included a father and daughter combination as well as two sets of brothers. Family values for the win, indeed.
For the biggest previous single winner, though, you can look as far back as April 2010. The Waterford winner decided to remain anonymous. The store owner where the winning ticket was bought said at the time “it could not have happened to a nicer person.” That “nice person” walked off with a whopping €16.7 million.
