Mayo family claim third-highest jackpot in Lotto history worth over €17m
Eva Osborne
A Mayo family syndicate have made the trip to Lottery HQ to claim their jackpot prize worth over €17 million, which they won almost three weeks ago in the August 27th draw.
The winners, who now hold the title of third-highest Lotto jackpot winners in Ireland, scooped their prize after purchasing their ticket online for the Wednesday night draw.
The close-knit family, who are remaining private, admitted that they are finding it difficult to believe their good fortune.
“I wish I could say that the news has sunk in by now but I’m waiting for hidden cameras to pop out and tell us that this is all a big joke.
"The last few weeks are a total blur and I still wake up in the middle of the night wondering is this real or just a mad dream.
"We’re all in shock and you’d think sitting in the Winners Room would help, but we just can’t believe it.”
'Total disbelief'
“On the night of the draw, we were all together when the email came in and I checked the account. You always imagine that you’ll be jumping up and down, but we sat in silence and total disbelief.
"It’s really not what you imagine at all. I swear, Lottery HQ couldn’t open quick enough though.
"I was on to the Claims Team first thing the next morning and definitely breathed a sign of relief when the guys confirmed the win. I couldn’t tell you what else they said on the phone though, it’s all just a blur at this stage.”
The Maritime County winners are now looking forward to making big travel plans and checking off a number of destinations from their lists as well as helping others with their unexpected windfall.
Before we won, we always had a list as long as our arms of the things we’d do first but it’s like we can’t think now. Top of the list for now is travel.
"We can’t wait to book a few trips to America and Australia because we’ve been saying for years that we’d go and now we can.
"It’s a big change to go from checking your bank balance before shopping to not having that worry any more. We are determined to help those around us as well as local charities. Community is hugely important to us.”
After arriving at Lottery HQ to pick up their life-changing amount, the winners joked that there was one particular detail that they were happy to hear about.
“We thought we’d have to walk out of here with one of those massive cheques you see in all the photos. We were saying to ourselves how will we not attract an audience with that under our arms."
Two out of three of the top spots on the list of largest ever Lotto jackpots won in Ireland are now held by Mayo winners.
The largest ever Lotto jackpot, which was won in January 2022 following the longest rollover in the history of the game, was claimed by a Mayo family syndicate (€19.06 million) while the second largest amount was won by the Dan Morrissey syndicate (€18.96 million) in June 2008.
