Luck of the Irish Delivers €250m EuroMillions Winner
Irish eyes have smiled on a mystery EuroMillions lotto player from County Cork who purchased a €250 million jackpot prize-winning ticket in a convenience store.
Small population Ireland has landed another huge EuroMillions jackpot prize.
Key Facts:
- Ireland’s 18th winner of the EuroMillions jackpot has landed a €250 million prize.
- Identity of the winner is a mystery.
- Winning ticket was purchased in County Cork.
- The new multi-millionaire is likely to enter Ireland’s top 100 rich list.
The phrase “The Luck of The Irish” refers to the idea of people of Irish descent having good fortune or success. History suggests it dates back to 19th century North America when many Irish immigrants fortuitously struck it rich during the Gold Rush era.
This term has never gone away, and periodically, something happens to suggest the expression bears some truth.
A case in point came in 2005 when a €115.4 million EuroMillions jackpot prize, the biggest in European lottery history at the time, went to a mother of six from Limerick.
For a small nation, Ireland has fared well in the EuroMillions lottery, and it had another impressive win in 2019 when a jackpot of nearly €175.5 million was shared by a family syndicate of eight siblings from County Dublin.
In July 2020, a lotto player from Dublin landed a €49.5 million Jackpot, which they won with a single € 2.50′ normal play ticket’ purchased via a lottery site online.
Cork Lotto Winner – Like a Genie from a Bottle
By the start of 2025, Irish players had won the EuroMillions jackpot 17 times with a minimum return of €15 million. Castlebar, in County Mayo, to the west of Ireland, has been a particularly lucky spot. On three occasions, a EuroMillions jackpot-winning ticket has been sold in the town.
However, Irish eyes shone brighter than ever last week when a ticket purchased in County Cork featuring the numbers 13, 22, 23, 44, 49 (and ‘lucky stars’ numbers 3 and 5) became a record-equalling €250 million winner.
Much to Ireland’s National Lottery’s relief – as an unclaimed €500,000 lottery prize will go back into the National Lottery fund later this week – its owner or owners quickly came forward to claim the massive prize, which defied odds 139,838,160/1.
Welcome to the Rich List
So far, the identity of the winner is a mystery. Ireland’s National Lottery announced that the winning ticket was sold in a Centra shop (part of a convenience retail group), and it took a giant cheque to the store for a photo opportunity with the shop manager and staff who sold the golden ticket.
🗣️ “Totally shocked. I thought it was a wind up.”
The manager of Clifford’s Centra store on Shandon Street in Cork City has shared his disbelief after discovering his shop sold the €250 million winning EuroMillions ticket – the biggest jackpot in Irish history.#VMNews pic.twitter.com/o0UUiePZHJ
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) June 20, 2025
The Centra store, which employs 31 people, is set to receive €25,000 as a reward for selling the winning ticket. It has been reported that plans are underway to have a big celebration for the shop’s staff in the coming weeks.
If the lottery ticket has not been purchased as part of a syndicate, Stephen Felle, CEO of Fordel, which advises 30 of Ireland’s wealthiest people, says the winner will “likely be catapulted straight into Ireland’s top 100 rich list.”
However, €1.8 billion would be needed to secure a spot in the top 10. Names listed in that elite group include Grand National winning racehorse owner Michael O’Leary and Dermot Desmond, a significant Celtic FC stakeholder and a Dublin casino owner.
