A large Mayo family syndicate has collected their €17m EuroMillions prize which they won on Tuesday, February 11.
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at Mulroy’s Londis in Castlebar, Co Mayo.
The family, who wish to keep their win private, were completely oblivious the next day to the fact that the winning jackpot ticket worth €17 million was sold locally, but hoped they had won €500k.
“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," the mother said.
"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 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.
The family waited over two weeks to collect the life-changing prize.
"The hardest part for us was waiting two weeks to collect our prize," the mother said.
"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."
The family plan to spend the money sensibly.
"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 best part of this win is that we are sharing in the experience together as a family."
This is the third winning EuroMillions jackpot ticket to be sold in Castlebar since the EuroMillions game was launched in 2004.
