“I was going blurry-eyed seeing all those zeros in front of me!” - EuroMillions players claim €1 Million in prizes in Lottery Headquarters

What do a Louth woman and a Carlow man have in common? Both won €500,000 in recent EuroMillions Plus draws and popped into National Lottery Headquarters this week to claim their top prize amounts.

The Louth woman scooped her incredible amount after playing online for the Tuesday 7th April draw and admitted she thought she was seeing things when the email arrived.

“I woke up the day after the draw to an email telling me to check my account. Initially, I knew I had won over €500 but I wasn’t fully sure just how much. At that point in the morning, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I kept checking and rechecking – I was going blurry-eyed seeing all those zeroes in front of me! Time really did slow down and of course, I felt all of the emotions.”

The top prize winner has already started to make plans for what to do next.

“Travelling is top of the list. I’ve always wanted to jet off and see the world so that dream is soon to become a reality. I would also love to go on a family ski trip. For now, I’ll carry on living life as normal and then start making my plans.”

A Carlow man who purchased his ticket at the Centra store in Ballon was still in shock arriving to the Winners room to pick up his €500,000 prize from the Tuesday 21st April draw.

“Until I called the Claims team, I had no idea there had even been a top prize win that night, let alone that I was the one holding the winning ticket! I think it took me about four minutes to catch my breath when Martin on the Claims team told me I’d won €500,000. I was just checking the ticket as part of my usual routine really. I’d been carrying the ticket around with me for most of the week completely unaware of just how much it was worth.”

“When I got home, my wife was mopping the floor, so I told her to sit down. I immediately asked her what she’d do if we won a lottery prize. I put the ticket on the table and told her how much it was worth. It certainly wasn’t something she was expecting mid floor wash! The news is still sinking in, but I think a nice holiday will be something we plan in the near future.”

 Meanwhile, tonight’s EuroMillions jackpot is set to roll towards an estimated €40 Million while tomorrow night’s Lotto Jackpot is heading towards an estimated €8.8 Million. Players dreaming of how they would celebrate if they were to win this weekend are reminded that tickets can be purchased in-store, through the National Lottery app or at www.lottery.ie. The deadline for EuroMillions ticket sales is 7.30pm this evening, while tickets can be purchased for Saturday’s Lotto draw ahead of 7.45pm tomorrow evening.

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish Language. In total, more than €6.5 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 39 years ago. In 2024 alone, €239.3 Million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.                                                                      Play National Lottery games responsibly, play for fun.