The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
€11.2m Lotto bonanza as four winners make contact
IT’S a remarkable National Lottery story unlikely to ever be repeated in the county.
In the space of just 50 days, two shops in Glenbeigh and Killarney respectively sold two winning National Lottery tickets apiece: three EuroMillion Plus €500,000 winners and, to top it all off, a €9.7m lotto jackpot, the largest prize ever won in the county.
To add even further intrigue, it appeared for a while that all four prizes might go unclaimed.
But now it seems that all four winners might have been found.
Last week a family syndicate from Kerry became the first jackpot winners to avail of the National Lottery’s new postal claims process after coming through the verification regulations, therefore scooping the €9.7m April 18 Lotto jackpot. The Kerry-based syndicate – whose members remain unnamed – purchased the winning Quick Pick ticket in Daly’s SuperValu on Park Road, Killarney, which astonishingly had sold a winning €500,000 EuroMillions Plus ticket just days beforehand, April 14.
The Daly’s double followed on from a similar story in Sheehan’s Centra, Glenbeigh, which sold €500,000 EuroMillions Plus-winning tickets on both February 28 and March 31 this year.
There had been concerns in the county that all three EuroMillions prizes would go unclaimed – which has not been unknown to happen in Kerry, where a €250,000 Lotto Plus Two-winning ticket sold in Kenmare three years ago missed the 90-day deadline.
A National Lottery spokesperson has confirmed to The Kerryman, however, that claimants have now come forward for all three prizes.
Each of the three winners will remain private, and it is not yet confirmed if the claimants are from Kerry. All three are still going through a rigorous verification process.
While the stories behind the three EuroMillions prizes going unclaimed for so long remains unknown at this point due to that verification process, the person who purchased the €9.7m jackpot-winning ticket, who has remained anonymous, has revealed the emotions that took hold in the lead-up to their syndicate’s claim.
“Of course we heard of the big Lotto win in Kerry but never entertained the thought that it could be us – sure we never win!” they said. “A few days passed and I was checking my ticket for the following Wednesday’s draw when I spotted the ticket in my handbag. It dawned on me that I forgot to check Saturday’s numbers.
“It was such a surreal moment when you realise you have won. Without even thinking about it I just started hopping all over the living room in delight.
“It’s so funny to think I was walking around with the winning ticket in my bag for almost a week.
“We kept the ticket safe in a drawer at home but found ourselves checking the numbers frequently. It certainly took a while for the news to sink in... We actually won the Lotto!
“Of course winning the Lotto is on your mind constantly but we didn’t mind waiting to claim. In fact it turned out to be a good thing as we were able to get our heads around the win and make the necessary preparations to get such a huge amount of money”, they added.
Daly’s SuperValu’s Michael O’Brien has since told The Kerryman that the fact the winning prize has stayed in the kingdom is a bonus after the excitement of selling a lucky ticket.
“Ah it’s lovely, of course,” he said, “especially with the lockdown and everything, it is a lovely thing for the county.
“I had heard nothing about the EuroMillions prizes being claimed. I suppose a lot of us were wondering if anyone would ever come forward, but that’s great news that they have.
“We’ve had the lotto going here [Daly’s] since 1986, I’m told. We had sold one €250,000-winning ticket before a few years ago, I think, but nothing of this scale.”