The lucky lady matched the numbers 14, 15, 24, 29 and 42, plus Lucky Stars 2 and 4 after buying a single ticket online. She found out she had won when she checked her emails later that night, and she could not believe one of the messages.
She visited the Irish National Lottery’s headquarters on Friday to pick up her prize, sharing her story with officials but keeping her identity private. She recalled her feelings on the night of the draw and said it was still sinking in weeks later.
“It has almost been three weeks since the draw and even now, it still doesn't feel real,” she said. “On the night of the draw, I checked my phone around midnight and there was an email to say I had won a prize on my EuroMillions ticket.
“I'd regularly win prizes here and there so when I logged in, I half expected to see that I'd won a few euros and I even hoped that it might be a few hundred. What happened next will stick with me for the rest of my life. On the ticket, it said that there was one winner of the EuroMillions jackpot and that winner was me.”
Friend ‘thought I’d been drinking’
Stunned by what had happened, the winner rang a friend in the middle of the night. However, she failed to convince him that her news was genuine. “I was in such a state of shock, I had to tell somebody so I called my friend straight away. It was obvious that my phone call had woken him from his sleep and he had no interest in hearing my ramblings.
“When I tried to explain that I had won the EuroMillions jackpot, he instantly dismissed it, saying that either I was dreaming or that I had been drinking.”
The woman has vowed to approach the next few weeks and months sensibly, so she will seek out expert financial advice before making too many plans. However, she is also very clear that she wants to share her good fortune with those who matter most to her.
She said: “This is such a huge prize and it gives me a great deal of responsibility and of course freedom to help an awful lot of good for the people closest to me. I am going to surround myself with some people to properly advise me on the best way to make plans for my money, but my main priority is to help my family and friends.”
The woman’s win was the second jackpot to go to Ireland since the start of the year, after a €17 million prize was claimed by a player from Connacht in February. The jackpot has rolled over five times in a row since 21st July, and now stands at €73 million (£66 million) ahead of the next draw on Tuesday night. Check the EuroMillions Results after the draw to see if you have won.