Westmeath family of six "over the moon" after scooping €6.1 million Lotto jackpot
A lucky county Westmeath man who bought a Quick Pick lotto ticket on the day his grandchild was born is this week celebrating a life-changing €6.1m win in last Saturday's mega Lotto jackpot.
The jubilant family of six -who wish to remain anonymous – arrived at National Lottery headquarters on Tuesday afternoon to claim their massive winnings, and revealed that the magic ticket had been stored in the gun cabinet of their family home since Sunday morning when they found out they had become overnight millionaires.
“Sure I could think of no better place to leave it” joked the Dad, who has been playing Lotto faithfully every week since it started 30 years ago, and who purchased his winning ticket at the Topaz Service Station on the Dublin road in Athlone.
The lucky family only discovered they had the winning ticket when they heard on the news on Sunday morning that Saturday's nights bumper jackpot of €12.3 million had been shared and that the winning tickets were sold in Westmeath and Donegal.
“I dared hope it was us, but when we checked the winning numbers we realised our dreams had come true,” he said. “We were over the moon”.
The winning Dad rang his wife who was in work and told her he had won €500 on the Lotto. “If I had told her the truth all of her work would known! She asked me to be sure to buy a bottle of wine to have with dinner.”
The winning wife said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got home to learn that we had hit the Jackpot! The excitement was something else.”
Each family member will get just over €1 million each “a lovely amount which will help the kids out with their mortgages and to get a great start in life,” said the Mum.
The winning family have no intention of giving up work, despite their new found fortune. The Dad said: “We both love our jobs and we will be carrying on as normal.”
The holder of the second shared Lotto Jackpot ticket from Saturday, purchased in Mickey Joe’s Country Store in Carrigart, Co. Donegal, have made contact with the National Lottery office and arrangements are being made to claim the prize.