Record €175 Million EuroMillions Jackpot Won in Ireland
It was a historic night for EuroMillions in Ireland, as a single jackpot-winning ticket from the Emerald Isle won the €175 million jackpot. It is the biggest lottery prize ever won in the country, and the ninth-largest payout the game has ever seen.
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Winning Ticket Bought In-Store
There were just over three million winners across all nine participating countries on Tuesday 19th February, and a total of 82,110 winners in Ireland. The winning ticket was the only one to match all five main numbers – 1, 8, 18, 19 and 39 - and two Lucky Stars 7 and 9 on the night, landing the nine-figure windfall for themselves.
Five tickets from other countries matched five numbers and one Lucky Star to just miss out on a share of the jackpot and, elsewhere in Ireland, there was one Match 5 winner of €41,082. It has not been confirmed yet whether the record-breaking jackpot-winning ticket is owned by a single player, or part of a syndicate, but it has been revealed the lucky entry was bought in-store from a Daybreak shop in Naul, County Dublin.
Les Reilly, owner of the Daybreak store, said: "I'm over the moon and can't believe it. Lotto (the Irish National Lottery) have just confirmed it to us that we sold the winning ticket. We never sold a big one before. A few €25,000 but now we've done it in real style. We must have been waiting for the big one. I'm don't know anything about the ticket. If it's who I think it is, I'd be over the moon for them. People were coming into the shop today to congratulate him and shake his hand."
“The Luck of the Irish Is in the Air”
All lottery winners in Ireland have 90 days from the date of the draw to come forward and claim their prize, however, the winner has already made contact with National Lottery officials to begin the claims process. Dermot Griffin, Irish National Lottery chief executive, couldn’t hide his excitement at the news. He said: "This is an incredible win for an Irish EuroMillions player and a record win for the National Lottery. We are thrilled."
It is the second time the EuroMillions jackpot has been won this year, after Northern Irish couple Frances and Patrick Connolly took home €130 million in January. This latest win has brought a run of 13 successive rollovers to an end. They are the 14th jackpot winner to come from Ireland since they joined the lottery in 2004, overtaking Dolores McNamara as the country’s biggest winner in the process. Her win of €115 million in July 2005 was a record that stood for 14 years.
The winner, or winners, will also have to decide whether to go public or remain anonymous, and Griffin added that more details will be released in due course. He continued: “This has been an incredibly lucky period for players on the island of Ireland. In January a Northern Ireland couple won an amazing €127 million in the EuroMillions jackpot. The luck of the Irish is definitely in the air."
Following this sensational win, the jackpot will now automatically reset to €17 million ahead of this Friday’s draw and you could become the second top prize winner in the space of four days by playing at any licensed retailer in Ireland or online from various locations around the world. Good luck!
20th February 2019
