173 winning Lotto tickets sold in Cork since lotto began 30 years ago in 1988

30 July 2018
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie

Cork may not be one of Ireland’s luckiest Lotto County per head of population, but it has still scooped 173 jackpots totalling over €251 million since Lotto started 30 years ago, new National Lottery data reveals.

The “Luckiest Lotto Counties” data, using 2016 Census Population figures, shows that Cork has had 3.19 Lotto Jackpot winners for every 10,000 people, placing it in mid-table of the Lotto league table. The data shows that Louth, Donegal, and Mayo are the top three luckiest counties.

The last Lotto jackpot to be won in Cork was last March when a life-changing €5.6 million prize which was won by a family syndicate who bought their ticket at the Centra store in Crosshaven.

National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, said today:

“One of the most frequent questions we are asked is what is Ireland’s luckiest Lotto county. There has always been great rivalry amongst our players all over the country to claim this title. But it is important to note that chance has no memory and playing Lotto is purely a matter of luck. Whether it is in Cork, Laois, or Louth, in a shop or online from the comfort of your own home, you have the exact same chance of winning a prize.

He added: “We have had 173 jackpot winners from Cork since Lotto started and we are looking forward to a lot more in the future! And while Lotto players in Louth, Donegal, Mayo, Dublin and Carlow have enjoyed most success in the Lotto game per head of population, these findings do not have any bearing on who may be a future Lotto winner! It could be Cork again this Wednesday when the Lotto Jackpot is set to roll to a mega €7.5 million. This is the highest the jackpot has been in a while so we are appealing to players to buy their tickets early to avoid queues in store – or play at lottery.ie or through the National Lottery App.”

Co. Louth, known as “the Wee County”, boasts the most Lotto millionaires per head of population since Lotto launched three decades ago, with an incredible 76 lucky Lotto jackpot winners who have won in excess of €89 million between them; that’s 5.9 Lotto jackpot winners for every 10,000 people!

Coming a close second place is Co. Donegal, which has clocked up 90 Lotto jackpot winners in 30 years, sharing over €116 million in prizes. Census 2016 population figures show there are 5.65 Lotto jackpot winners for every 10,000 people in the county.

The Mayo football players may have suffered an early exit in the race for Sam Maguire this year but Lotto players in the green and red of the western county have had significantly more luck in the lottery game coming third on the Lotto list with 4.44 Lotto jackpot winners per 10,000 people. They have had 58 Lotto jackpot winners sharing over €103 million in prizes.

Meanwhile, Dublin has had 572 lucky Lotto jackpot winners scooping over €856 million in jackpot prizes alone, or 4.25 winners for every 10,000 inhabitants. That tally places the county 4^th on the Lotto league table due to its population of over 1.3 million.

Ireland’s Luckiest Lotto Counties

* Statistics based on Lotto jackpot wins from 8^th October 1988 – 3^rd May 2018.