Here are some of our biggest winners from July!
While July turned out to be the rainiest month of the year to date, the weather certainly didn’t dampen things for National Lottery players with SIX new millionaires made throughout the month.
Compiled from National Lottery claims data with all prizes totaling 15,000 and above. 10,000 and above for online winners. This may include more than one prize won on an individual ticket.
A Lotto player in Roscommon started their month off by matching five numbers and the bonus in the 1st July draw to win a massive €135,820. The player purchased their winning ticket at the SuperValu store in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
A week later, a Dublin syndicate were celebrating after scooping the €3,931,066 Lotto jackpot in the 8th July draw. The syndicate became the 7th Lotto jackpot winners of 2023 after purchasing their winning ticket at Pinewood Stores in Balbriggan.
The syndicate manager admitted that each of the members had a whirlwind of emotions when they heard the news: “I was watching the draw live so I realised that we had the winning ticket on Saturday night. When it came to calling everyone else to tell them, I got a real mix of reactions from them all. I’m not sure if they all believed me immediately but once they all saw the ticket and the results side by side for themselves, the celebrations started. We couldn’t wait to get into the Winners’ Room and hand the ticket in to be honest. The pressure of keeping it safe! For the last few days, I’ve had the ticket hidden in a book I was reading tucked away in the dresser beside my bed. I didn’t want to let it out of my sight,” they said.
“Now that we have our cheque, the plan now is to take our time and really let the news sink in. It’s been a proper life-changing week and I’m not sure this even feels real yet to be honest. The next thing we’ll definitely do is have a little celebration together.”
The 8th July Lotto draw saw over 99,000 players win prizes across the Lotto and Lotto Plus games. As well as the life-changing jackpot win, a player in Kildare won big after matching five numbers and the bonus to earn themselves €88,830. The winning Quick Pick ticket was purchased at Centra Kilcullen.
Just a few days later, a Lotto player in Galway became Ireland’s newest millionaire after winning the top prize of €1 million in the 12th July Lotto Plus 1 draw. The winning ticket was purchased in the scenic coastal town of Clifden at Kavanagh’s Supervalu. A Lotto player in Dublin also had a Wednesday to remember after matching five numbers and the bonus in the main draw to win €35,122. Their winning ticket was purchase at Tesco in Lucan.
The Lotto draw on the following Saturday saw a syndicate from Louth take the €2,418,002 jackpot in the 15th July draw. The Wee County winners scooped the life-changing amount after purchasing their winning ticket at Tesco in the Longwalk shopping centre in Dundalk.
The Louth Lotto jackpot winners admitted that they were in total shock when they saw their numbers appear on screen: “I was watching the draw live and ticking our numbers off as they came out. I really couldn’t believe it when all of our numbers were on the screen in front of me! I was checking and double checking and checking again. I had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming! It’s surreal to think that we were the only people in the entire country to have the winning numbers last weekend.”
“For a few weeks, I was actually thinking of stopping the syndicate. There’s a lot of organizing that goes into it and we had never won big before so I was thinking to myself, is it really worth it? We decided to keep going with it for the time being and thank goodness we did. Imagine if we had have given up – we certainly wouldn’t be sitting here in the Winners Room, that’s for sure,” they said.
The Louth winners believe that the rain on the particular weekend that they won helped them to become Ireland’s newest Lotto jackpot winners: “I feel like the awful weather last week played a big part in our win. As I got to the shop to buy our Quick Pick ticket, the rain was pouring down so there wasn’t a chance I was getting out of the car in that. I had to sit and wait for a while to let it ease off. To think, if it hadn’t have been such a wet and dreary day, I might have ended up going into the shop even earlier which could have resulted in us not getting our particular Quick Pick ticket. It was obviously meant to be!”
An online syndicate from Galway were celebrating on Saturday 22nd July after matching five numbers and the bonus to win €133,104 in the main draw. The winning ticket was purchased using the recently launched Scheduled Play service in the National Lottery app. The €133,104 prize is the largest amount to be won to date using the new service.
The syndicate manager admitted that the new Scheduled Play service has made life a lot easier for purchasing tickets for the group.
“I have been managing our syndicate for about five years now and I always hoped that there would be something to make life a little easier for organising our weekly tickets. I was thrilled when I saw the new Scheduled Play tool. I set up the continuous play option for 6 months which has definitely made things a lot more stream-lined.”
“When I got the call from the National Lottery about the win, I had to go tell the rest of the members about our win. I’m not sure if they believed me immediately but they were definitely eager to hear when I was collecting the cheque. Hopefully we’ll have more luck again and be back here soon!”
A Lotto player in Kerry became the 23rd National Lottery millionaire of 2023 after winning the top prize of €1 million in the Lotto Plus 1 draw on Wednesday 26th July. The Kingdom winner took the title of 5th Lotto Plus 1 top prize winner of the year after purchasing their winning ticket at Murphy’s Supervalu on Railway Road in Kenmare.
The winner, who was on holidays in Kerry at the time of the win, was still in complete shock in the Winners’s Room in Lotto HQ.
“I just read the numbers over and over again. I thought this is impossible, there must be a mistake! But when I called up the National Lottery, they confirmed it's all true and that I am now a millionaire. It’s a dream come true.”
“I’ve no immediate plans yet for the money, but I do hope to purchase a house in the future. For the moment, I just want to keep life as normal as possible.”
Over 62,000 players nationwide won prizes across the Lotto and Lotto Plus games in the 26th July draw including a Leitrim player who matched five numbers and the bonus to win €36,405. The Leitrim winner purchased their winning Quick Pick ticket at the Country Store in Kiltyclogher.
On the 1st July, an online player in Meath won big in the Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 game. The Royal County player won the €40,000 top prize in the 5/7 game after they matched five numbers in the Lotto Plus 2 draw.
A Daily Million player in Monaghan had a life-changing Friday on 21st July after winning the top prize of €1 million in the 9pm draw. The Drumlin County player purchased their winning ticket at Fleming’s Supervalu on Church Square in Monaghan Town.
So far this year, the Daily Million game has had seven €1 million top prize winners while the Daily Million Plus game has seen four €500,000 top prize winners.
July saw two online players scoop €10,000 each after matching five numbers and the bonus in the main draw. In the 9pm draw on 26th of July, an online player in Kildare was the biggest winner while in the 2pm draw on the 28th July, it was an online player in Galway celebrating a €10,000 win.
A family syndicate from Galway scooped the top prize of €500,000 in the 4th July EuroMillions Plus draw after purchasing their winning ticket at McGreal’s Mace in Ballybrit.
The head of the syndicate recounted the moment she bought the ticket and how she found out later that night they had become half a million euro richer: “I headed down to McGreal’s to pick up some milk and pork chops for the dinner. I had a bit of change left over so said I’d buy a EuroMillions Plus ticket. I was over at a friend's house later who checked the ticket for me and my legs nearly went weak when they told me the ticket was worth €500,000! I started ringing around family members to tell them the good news and none of them believed me at first. I’ve a reputation as a bit of a prankster you see. We all gathered together in the house later that night to celebrate and we were dancing up on the tables and singing songs – it was night I’ll never forget!”, she said.
Two EuroMillions players in Ireland won big in the 21st July draw, included an online winner from Dublin who matched five numbers and one lucky star to win a staggering €164,674. Meanwhile, a player in Offaly matched five numbers to win €38,487 after purchasing their winning ticket at Spar on the Arden Road in Tullamore.
An online player in Dublin became a millionaire over-night after the 28th July EuroMillions draw, which included a special Raffle event that guaranteed one player in Ireland to win €1 million. Typically, in every single EuroMillions draw, ten players in Ireland win €5,000 on the ‘Ireland Only Raffle’. In the 28th July draw, an additional €1 million was added to the special raffle draw and among those ten winners of €5,000, one winner (online player in Dublin) won an additional €1 million. .
A Telly Bingo player in Laois got their weekend started in style after winning the Snowball prize worth €45,075 on Friday 14th July. The winning ticket was purchased at Dunnes Stores in the Kyle Shopping Centre on James Fintan Lalor Avenue in Portlaoise.
July was an incredible month for Scratch Card winners all over the country with a total of eight players sharing €546,000.
Included amongst those winners was a delighted Wexford woman who won €200,000 on a €10 All Cash Spectacular Scratch Card which she purchased at the Centra store in Templeshannon in the centre of Enniscorthy town.
Sitting in the National Lottery Winners' Room in Dublin City centre, the Wexford woman told how she found out that she had scratched her way to a €200,000 fortune.
“It’s been a crazy couple of days. At the end of every week, myself and my husband always treat ourselves to a Scratch Card each. He scratched away himself and let up a shout that it wasn’t a winner. Moments later, I’m scratching my own and all of a sudden I’m shouting at him that I’d just won €200,000. It was a crazy moment that I will never forget.”
The Wexford winner emphasized the tight-knit bond shared within her family, expressing her plans to share the windfall with her children and grandchildren. "We are an incredibly close family, and we believe in sharing everything, including lottery wins," she said with a smile.
"Of course, I have some bills, like my mortgage, to take care of first, but once those are settled, every penny will be divided equally among us. We'll cherish this win together as a family. It's a beautiful thing to be able to do for our loved ones."
Meanwhile, a Dublin player got quite the surprise after winning €100,000 on a €5 Money Multiplier Scratch Card which he purchased at the Spar shop on the Millenium Walkway on Upper Abbey Street in Dublin 1.
“Before this, the most I ever won was €50 so it was a massive shock when I saw all those zeroes looking back at me. It’s not everyday that you hear of a top prize amount being won so I think that threw me as well. I never expected it so I’m delighted that I can now say I’m a top prize winner! I don’t know how long I spent looking at it. Looking after my family is the top priority now”, he said.