Millionaire postman’s old job still haunts him

HE’S received begging letters every day since he scooped €7 million on the Lotto earlier this year.

However, multimillionaire postman Pat Broderick is having to spend even more time opening his mail every morning, as he’s been inundated with Christmas cards from strangers.

The Kinsale postie has been flooded with more mail than ever before over the past two weeks from people pleading with him to play Santa and share a slice of his fortune over the festive season.

Pat, 47, is receiving over a dozen cards a day from strangers, on top of correspondence from people he knows.

Although most “well-wishers” have asked for modest handouts, several are understood to have made desperate pleas for six-figure sums.

A family friend said yesterday: “Pat’s received a small amount of begging letters every day since he went public with his win back in March, but they had started to die down a bit in late summer.

“He was hoping that would be the end of them and that people would have forgotten about him. But over the past two weeks, with Christmas coming up, he’s been literally inundated with mountains of mail every day, mostly Christmas cards from people he doesn’t know looking for some money.

“He’s never been as popular and he’s looking forward to Christmas Day, knowing there’ll be no mail delivered that day.”

Although it’s not known if he’s donated any of his bumper winnings — which was one half of €14m, this year’s biggest Lotto jackpot — generous Pat has kept up his promise to use his windfall to help his family.

Last month he bought his three adult daughters — twins Christina and Ann-Marie, 23, and Louise, 21 — separate family homes in a plush new estate near his own home in the Co Cork seaside town.

And although he and wife Mary, 45, who have another son, Timothy, 15, have taken several short foreign holidays, they have shown little inclination to splash the cash on themselves — apart from trading in the old family car, a battered 10-year-old Peugeot 206, for a secondhand BMW.

Despite the begging letters, the Brodericks say their colossal win has transformed their lives for the better, leaving them with no financial concerns.

Speaking earlier this week, Pat recalled: “It was a great thrill, a mighty thrill. Obviously we were a bit nervous what we were going to do and who were going to tell. But I just said to myself I’ll take it as it comes. Things have settled down a lot, it’s great.”