Irish Lotto Set For 3,000th Draw
Last Updated: Tuesday 27th September 2022, 10:13 am
Almost 30 years after Irish Lotto was played for the first time in April 1988, the 3,000th draw will take place this Saturday. The game has given away billions in prizes, raising money to support numerous good causes along the way, and National Lottery officials are hopeful that the landmark draw will produce another big winner.
Irish Lotto Winners
The first Irish Lotto draw took place on Saturday 16th April 1988. One lucky Donegal lady, Brigid McGrath from Letterkenny, picked up the jackpot of £147,059. The game has gone on to pay out more than €4.4 billion in prizes and there have been a total of 1,738 jackpot winners over the past three decades, making it an average of around 58 per year. Of those lucky players, 745 have picked up more than €1 million.
Biggest Jackpots
The record for the largest Irish Lotto jackpot ever won was set on Saturday 28th June 2008 by a group of 16 quarry workers. The Dan Morrissey Syndicate, from Co. Carlow, scooped an incredible €18.9 million. A couple from Dungarvan, Co Waterford, can lay claim to winning the second-highest jackpot in Irish Lotto history after pocketing €16.7 million on 14th April 2010.
Luckiest Locations
The Irish National Lottery has released a breakdown of the most successful counties in anticipation of the 3,000th draw, and it is Dublin which has proved to be the luckiest with 572 jackpot wins. Next on the list is Cork with 172, while there have been 92 jackpot winners from Galway.
Good Causes
Lucy Lotto players have not been the only ones to benefit from the game. Ticket sales have helped to raise €2.9 billion for good causes. Nearly 30 cents from every euro spent on National Lottery games goes towards worthwhile projects and organisations in the areas of health, sport, welfare, education, arts and heritage.
‘Remarkable’
Reflecting on the first 30 years of Irish Lotto, National Lottery chief executive Dermot Griffin said: “I absolutely love welcoming our Lotto winners into our Winners’ Room, and witnessing first-hand the whole spectrum of emotions which winners go through with their life-changing Lotto jackpot wins. It is truly remarkable.”
