"We’ve won a big one!" Co Mayo retirees joyfully celebrate €1 million lotto win

A syndicate of more than 40 retirees from Co Mayo traveled to Ireland's National Lottery headquarters in Dublin on November 21 to collect their Daily Million prize of €1,000,000.

The 'Young at Heart' retirement group syndicate is based in Parke, located near Turlough, just outside Castlebar in Co Mayo. 

Members of the club have been contributing €1 each to their lottery pot every week for the past seven years, Midwest Radio reports.

Their winning Daily Million ticket was purchased in Turlough Stores in Turlough, Co Mayo, where the group always plays the lotto, on October 3.

At National Lottery HQ on Monday, Michael Cosgrave, spokesperson for the syndicate, described the utter shock he felt after finding out the group had won the amazing prize: “Ah, we were all so excited when we found out. 

“Anne Kelly rang me and said, ‘Woah we’ve won a big one!’"

He added: “We’re so happy to be sharing this prize with each other rather than one individual winning it on their own. It means so much more to us as a group to experience this joy together." 

Syndicate member Anne Kelly revealed how the group has already had a National lottery style celebration at one of their group meetings in Parke: “We had a meeting the Thursday after we’d won and we'd our own celebrations with bubbly, food, and music.

"It was a real party, and the atmosphere was just electric!"

She added: “The whole community is really delighted for us."

Fellow syndicate member Breda O’Boyle was filmed dancing and singing as she arrived at the National Lottery offices in Dublin on Monday.

“This is the closest we’ll get to Sam," O'Boyle joked. "It’s not a bad replacement.”

Reflecting on finding out about the big lotto win, O'Boyle said: “I was out on the bog for my walk and got a phone call to say that I was at least €20,000 richer. I thought it was a joke.

"I said nothing and walked around the bog - I was definitely sweating, I can tell you.

"It was confirmed the next day and we’ve been dancing since."

Breda O'Boyle dancing into Lotto HQ in Dublin earlier after she and over 40 others from a syndicate and retirement group 'Young at Heart' came from Mayo to collect their Daily Million top prize of €1million pic.twitter.com/qA0eWWrNJJ

— John Hand (@johnhand_) November 21, 2022

A cruise, a trip to Greenland, and a holiday of a lifetime are just some of the things members of the syndicate hope to do with their winnings. 

According to Ireland's National Lottery, nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on all National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage, and the Irish Language. In total, more than €6 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 35 years ago. In 2021 alone, €304 million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.