Someone in Offaly, meanwhile, came agonisingly close to winning just over €4 million.
A lucky lotto player in Castleisland in Kerry received the perfect early Christmas present on Wednesday night after claiming the top prize of €1 million in the Lotto Plus draw.
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at Whyte’s Centra store in Castleisland, so if you happened to pop in there to buy a ticket before Wednesday night’s draw, best get checking it to see if you’re the recipient of your very own Christmas miracle.
The winning Lotto Plus 1 numbers are: 4, 20, 21, 33, 37, 43 and the bonus number is 6.
It is the second big Lotto win in Kerry in the space of five days after an online player in the Kingdom claimed the Lotto Plus 2 top prize of €250,000 in the draw last Saturday (19 December).
Castleisland is proving a particularly fortuitous spot for Lotto winners after another Lotto player in the town won a Lotto Match 5 + Bonus prize of €235,196 on Saturday 5 December
In the main draw, one player from Offaly came agonisingly close to claiming the jackpot of €4,054,148 after winning the Match 5 + Bonus prize with a Quick Pick ticket purchased at Scully’s XL store in Daingean.
The Lotto player in question still claimed €47,615, not a bad consolation prize at all.
Commenting on the winning ticket in Castleisland, which will eventually be claimed by the 32nd National Lottery Millionaire in Ireland in 2020, Jim Healy, manager at Whyte’s Centra said: “This is amazing news, it feels like we’ve won the Lotto ourselves!
“This is just fantastic for Castleisland and you can be sure that one family in the town will be having the Christmas of a lifetime. The store is situated in the centre of Castleisland town and almost 100% of our trade is local.
“Knowing that one of our customers is a millionaire because of a visit to our store is truly heartening, especially this close to Christmas.”
A National Lottery spokesperson added: “Last night’s Lotto draws have given two lucky players in Kerry and Offaly the perfect start to the Christmas festivities. We are asking all of our players to check their tickets very carefully.
“If you are one of these big winners, we ask that that you sign the back of the ticket, keep it in a very safe place and contact our prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email [email protected], and we will make arrangements for you to claim your prize.”
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