‘Lovely, lucky lady’ lands Lotto jackpot of €7.9m

A “lovely, lucky lady” from Wexford has won the weekend Lotto jackpot of almost €8 million

Hanrahan’s Londis in The Faythe, Wexford, sold the €12.50 ticket late on Saturday afternoon and owner Michael Hanrahan says he knows who the winner is.

“I know the lady who won the €7.9m jackpot, but understandably, she wants to remain anonymous,” Mr Hanrahan said yesterday.

“But she is absolutely delighted that she has won the top prize, and I am too because she is a lovely lady, as well as a lucky one.

“I do not think she will wait long before claiming her prize, but she is still in shock.”

The news broke late on Saturday night, when National Lottery area manager Kieran Tuohy told Mr Hanrahan his store had sold the winning ticket.

“At first, I thought it was a wind-up, but when I realised that it was true, that we had actually sold the winning ticket, I was absolutely delighted.”

Mr Hanrahan said he called the woman who had the winning numbers at around 10.30pm on Saturday and asked her if she had checked her Lotto tickets.

“She said no, she hadn’t, and then asked me if I had something to tell her. I told her to check her tickets and when she did she could not believe that she had won.

“It still has not sunk in yet that she has won the top prize. She is just a lovely lady who really deserves the win, and I will be looking out for her.

Asked how he knew who the winner was, Mr Hanrahan said it would be rare for a customer to spend €12.50 on tickets. “So I was able to check it out that way,” he explained.

It is the first time that Mr Hanrahan, who opened his store five years ago, has had a big Lotto winner. “We have had nothing like it, just a few small ones; a thousand euro here and there. That’s it.”

The jackpot had not been won in more than five weeks and had rolled over since March 16.