Mayo family syndicate claims record-breaking €19m Lotto jackpot
Laura Scrinney, owner of the XL Store in Castlebar in Co. Mayo celebrates after she sold the winning ticket for the largest ever Lotto jackpot prize of €19,060,800 last January. Picture: Mac Innes Photography
A family syndicate from Co Mayo has officially claimed the largest ever Lotto win and taken home a jackpot of €19,060,800 from Lotto HQ, saying it was like an "out of body experience" when their numbers were called out.
The ecstatic family, who wish to remain anonymous, won their Lotto prize on Saturday, January 15 following the longest-ever rollover sequence which saw the jackpot capped for the first time ever.
The winning Quick Pick ticket was bought at Laura’s XL store in Castlebar town in Co. Mayo.
After claiming their prize at Lotto HQ in Dublin city centre, the family spoke about how they came to terms with their historic win.
“That Saturday night back in January is still a blur," a spokesperson said.
"I had the ticket in my hand and to see the six numbers come out one after another was like an out of body experience – it’s impossible to explain.
"One night we were watching the news on TV when somebody in Mayo was interviewed, and they mentioned that they better check their tickets to see if they were the lucky winner.
"One of the family shouted at the TV, ‘Don’t bother checking because we’ve got the winning ticket right here’. We all absolutely burst out laughing knowing that all this fuss was being made and we had the winning ticket all along.”
The National Lottery confirmed that during the course of the historic rollover, an estimated €87m win prizes was won, with almost €24m being distributed to lower winning prize tiers.
The close-knit family say they took some time to consider their plans for the fortune and have said they would share their newfound wealth with those who are closest to them and the wider community and charities.
"While we all will have our own individual plans, the big thing we want to do is help our wider family, close friends and indeed our community in any way we can," they said.
"Of course, we will be paying off whatever mortgages and loans that we have, but we have also drawn up a list of people to help in our communities and we look forward to helping out some charities and organisations in the coming months.
"It really is such an exciting time in our lives and we can’t wait to get started to changing peoples lives,” the spokesperson added.
