A Lotto luck in Louth... as Wee County makes jackpot history

IT might be known as the Wee County but there is a Lotto luck to be had in Co. Louth – as new National Lottery data reveals that it produces the most winners per capita.

Analysis of the Lotto’s 30-year history shows that Co. Louth has produced the most millionaires per head of population, with 76 jackpot winners who have won in excess of €89million between them.

This equates to 5.9 Lotto jackpot wins for every 10,000 people in the county.

The National Lottery calculated the number of jackpot winners in each county since the game launched in 1988 against 2016 Census population records.

Coming a close second is Co. Donegal, which has clocked up 90 Lotto jackpot winners in 30 years, sharing over €116million in prizes. Based on the Census 2016 population figures, that’s 5.65 Lotto jackpot winners for every 10,000 people in the county.

The Mayo football players may have suffered an early exit in the race for Sam Maguire this year but Lotto players in the green and red of the western county have had significantly more luck – coming third on the Lotto list with 4.44 Lotto jackpot winners per 10,000 people.

They have had 58 Lotto jackpot winners sharing over €103million in prizes.

Meanwhile, Dublin has had 572 lucky Lotto jackpot winners scooping over €856million in jackpot prizes alone, which places the county fourth on the league table of winners.

Unfortunate players in Co. Laois have been the unluckiest in Ireland – with 1.53 Lotto winners per 10,000 inhabitants despite having 13 Lotto jackpot winners who have claimed over €24million since 1988.

‘There has always been friendly competition amongst our players all over the country to claim this title, so we are delighted to confirm that Co. Louth is Ireland’s luckiest spot,’ said National Lottery chief executive officer Dermot Griffin.

‘But it is important to note that chance has no memory and playing Lotto is purely a matter of luck, regardless of where you buy your Lotto ticket or where you live.

‘Whether it is in Laois, Limerick or Louth, in a shop or online on www. lottery.ie from the comfort of your own home, you have the exact same chance of winning a prize.’