If any town in Ireland ever epitomised the old adage of ‘the luck of the Irish’, Castlebar has to be right up there among the most fortunate.
The largest ever Irish Lotto jackpot was won there recently. One person was the victor for a cool €19.06 million. And, yes, you guessed it – the winning ticket was purchased in Castlebar, Mayo.
Whether the latest winner chooses to remain anonymous remains to be seen. So far, they have made contact with Irish lottery authorities to claim their prize.
Back in 2019, Castlebar was also home to the biggest Irish lotto jackpot win that year. This time, the draw was for the EuroMillions and a syndicate bagged €29 million.
Three years earlier, again in Castlebar, the EuroMillions brought €15 million for the 2014 winner.
And as recently as 2020, a €17 million EuroMillions jackpot ticket was also sold in Castlebar – at Mulroy’s Londis shop.
“Every second person was playing the lottery this time around. I had to go on the door to manage the queues,” Mulroy’s Londis shop manager, Alan Mulroy, said recently. “Whichever shop wins is going to be good for them. It’s the busiest we have ever been,” he said. “I might put out my ‘Welcome to Castlebar, Europe’s luckiest town’ sign again.”
And as it turned out, the shop that won this time in 2022 was Laura’s XL store on Hopkins Road in Garryduff, Mayo. The county is in Dublin, which has produced over 500 lottery millionaires – across many different draws – over the years.
“Saturday night was such a huge draw and one that’s been the talk of the town for the week now, so we are absolutely over the moon to have played a part in this,” said Laura Scriney, who owns Laura’s XL store.
“The winner truly is the luckiest player in Ireland now and we wish them all the very best with their win.”
“The entire county really has been buzzing with chatter about the Lotto jackpot since the weekend with everyone wondering where exactly the winning ticket was sold. “When I heard that our store was the lucky location, I was in a complete state of shock. I knew that it was a Castlebar shop, but finding out was completely overwhelming. “We get customers from all over as Castlebar is such a popular shopping town.
The winner could be from Bangor Erris, Claremorris or Ballinrobe, anywhere. “I have my regulars but there’s plenty coming from further afield. Whoever won, I wish them the best of luck.” Louth, meanwhile, has the highest number of winners per head of population among all Ireland counties.
And then there’s Carlow, which previously had the biggest Irish lottery prize of €18.9 million. Wicklow, Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cavan, Kildare and others have featured in years gone by as well. As you can see, some counties have been luckier than others since the draw started in 1988. More than 30 years on, it’s still producing big winners and will probably do so for many years to come.
