On February 19th, a family syndicate from Ireland scooped a whopping €175 million pot in the EuroMillions, which makes them the biggest group winners in the entire history of this European lottery. They have dethroned the Irish Lottery Syndicate, which previously held the record with their €88.5 million jackpot of 2017.
The Irish family wanted to stay away from the public eye. They sent a representative, who is married to one of the syndicate members, to collect the prize and speak to the press. He described their EuroMillions win as a “dream come true”.
This is unbelievable – it will take us some time to get our heads around this win and to organize ourselves.”
He also said that they want to keep their lives as normal as possible after the EuroMillions win. They want to share the prize not only with children and grandchildren but with the extended family. Their good fortune will change the lives of the entire family, even the generations to come.
How did they find out about their EuroMillions win?
One of the syndicate members heard on television that the EuroMillions jackpot was won in Ireland, as well as the last three winning numbers. She then went to check her EuroMillions numbers online to find out the rest and she could not believe her eyes – they had all the five main numbers and both Lucky Stars.
I was numb! It took a bit of convincing everybody that we had won.”
Immediately, she went to put the €175 million ticket somewhere safe. She put it in an Argos catalog, which she placed under her mattress. The very next day, they contacted the National Lottery and handed in the ticket to them. At the moment, they have begun the prize collection process and they will receive the lump sum payout for their prize in the weeks to come.
The Naul Family Are Local Heroes
The EuroMillions winners of the €175 million jackpot are from Naul, a small town in north County Dublin and they purchased their ticket from a local shop called Reilly’s Daybreak. The owner of the shop, Les Reilly, told the press that she couldn’t believe what she was hearing when she was contacted by the lottery authorities. She also said that the entire town was in a frenzy about the huge EuroMillions win in their town.
I don’t know how the people felt who won it but I was in total shock, just total shock!”, Les Reilly told the BBC News.
This latest win makes Ireland the luckiest place to play the EuroMillions lottery in and certainly the luckiest location for group play. The Dublin family who won €175 million is the largest EuroMillions syndicate winner of all times, but there are another three big syndicates that dominate the syndicates hall of fame. Take a look at our syndicate winners page to find out more about the other Irish syndicates who have made lottery history.