Castlebar's status as the luckiest town in Europe continues following the announcement that the largest ever Irish Lotto prize has been won there.
The €19.06 million ticket was won in the town on Saturday night. It’s the fourth time the jackpot has been won in Castlebar and it is not even the biggest win.
In July 2019 the winning EuroMillions jackpot ticket worth €29 million was scooped by a syndicate which bought the ticket in Garryduff XL store in the town.
The first Castlebar EuroMillions jackpot was won in April 2014 when a ticket worth €15 million was purchased at Staunton’s Costcutter Express on Main Street.
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Less than two years ago the ticket for the €17 million EuroMillions jackpot was sold in Castlebar. That ticket was bought in Mulroy's Londis shop.
Manager Alan Mulroy said he never found out the identity of the winner of the previous Lotto jackpot.
There is a “great buzz”, he says around Castlebar and the volume of sales for last Saturday’s “must win” draw was greater than in his 28 years selling lottery tickets.
He is putting out the “Welcome to Castlebar, Europe’s luckiest town” sign again on Monday in the hope that lightning will have struck twice and his will be the winning shop again.
“Every second person was playing the lottery this time around. I had to go on the door to manage the queues. Whichever shop wins is going to be good for them. It’s the busiest we have ever been,” he said.
Mr Mulroy added that he heard “not a thing” about who might have won it.
The county's perennial search for Sam Maguire may be one of sport's longest running and unluckiest sagas, though having one town in the county which has won €80 million in lottery prizes brings its compensations.
The elusive winner of the Lotto jackpot has yet to come forward and the National Lottery has asked players in the town to check their tickets.
The details of the winning store will officially be revealed on Wednesday morning.
The winning numbers for Saturday were: 02, 09, 16, 30, 37, 40 and the bonus was 23. It was a quick pick combination.
As the Lotto jackpot was capped at €19.06 million, the funds from Saturday night’s draw that would usually go to the jackpot flowed down to the next highest tier at which there was a winner.
The “Will be Won” event saw 149 winners at the Match 5 + Bonus tier who shared almost €5.5 million and they will now claim €36,687 each.
