Two weeks after winning Ireland’s 15th EuroMillions jackpot, a large Mayo family syndicate has finally come forward to National Lottery headquarters in Dublin this week to collect their truly life-changing €17 million prize which they won on Tuesday, February 11.
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at Mulroy’s Londis in Castlebar, Co Mayo. This is the third winning EuroMillions jackpot ticket to be sold in the Mayo town since the EuroMillions game was launched in 2004.
The family, who wish to keep their win private, discussed the excitement which has encapsulated their lives over the past two weeks since they found out about their incredible win.
As the mother and father of the syndicate woke up the morning after the draw, they were completely oblivious to the fact that the winning jackpot ticket worth €17 million was sold locally. Coincidentally, a winning €500,000 EuroMillions Plus ticket was sold in Castlebar on the same night, and they hoped that they might have that winning ticket.
Recalling that life-changing morning, the mother of the family syndicate said: "On Wednesday morning, we heard that the EuroMillions Plus prize of €500,000 had been won in Castlebar the previous night so there was a bit of excitement knowing we potentially had a chance of having that winning ticket.
"I sent my husband off to check the ticket on the computer and when I didn’t hear any reaction out of him, I assumed we didn’t win anything. It was over 20 minutes later when I went into the room - cool as a cucumber, he asks me with a smirk, ‘How much do you love me?’ He told me to check the numbers on the ticket and I immediately checked the Plus numbers first because of the €500,000 win but we didn’t have any numbers. It was only when I checked the main draw that I’d realised that we’d hit the jackpot. €17 million! It was just unbelievable,” she said.
She added: "We were incredibly calm. We sat down quietly and we started calling all of the family to come home urgently, hinting that we’d won some money on the EuroMillions without actually telling them how much. Each and every one of them thought we’d won the €500,000 prize. When they finally burst through the door, one of them said, ‘Have we won the half million?’ – and my husband replied, ‘add on another 16 and a half million to that!’ It was a lovely moment for us all to share and it’s something we’ll remember forever.”
After waiting for over two weeks to collect their prize, the family had to decide on the best place to hide their ticket which was worth €17 million!
“The hardest part for us was waiting two weeks to collect our prize. You always worry about that little slip of paper and what happens if it goes missing! My husband came up with the great idea to hide the ticket on the very first page of the bible so if our house was burgled, he reckons that it’s the last place an intruder would look,” laughed the winning mother.
The family admit that they won’t rush into any spending plans for their new-found fortune and will return to normality once the celebrations die down. The mother said:
We’ve taken some time out to consider our plans for the money and I can assure you that we will be very sensible in our approach to spending. The jackpot has been split amongst the large family. Mortgages will be paid and some debts will be cleared and after that, it’s up to each family member to decide on what to do with their winnings. The bhe best part of this win is that we are sharing in the experience together as a family.”
