Twenty years ago this year, Dolores McNamara won what was then the biggest EuroMillions jackpot. She won a staggering 115,000,000 euros (£77m) in 2005, which in today’s money would be worth 176,890,391 euros or £150,769,871.
That record was broken last week when it was announced the winning ticket of a EuroMillions jackpot of 250 million euros (£208m) had been sold in the shop, Clifford’s Centra, in Shandon Street, Cork. The winner has been contacted by the National Lottery. Whoever won is the 18th winner in Ireland and the largest ever Irish win of the EuroMillions jackpot.
When Ms McNamara won, she was working as a part-time cleaner. The money was life-changing, as CorkBeo reports.
The mum-of-six from Limerick wasn’t at home when she learned of her huge win. The then 45-year-old was down her local pub, the Track Bar. She put her €2 lottery ticket on a table and told one of her pals to check it for her.
The draw was being shown live on TV and within seconds Ms McNamara was in floods of tears. A barmaid, who was there at the time, once said: “Then the drink started flowing and the champagne was poured and we had a great night celebrating. Dolores is a real nice woman and none of her friends believe this will change her drastically.”
After hitting the national news, Ms McNamara’s solicitor issued a statement saying she wanted life to return to normal as soon as possible. He said: “She is absolutely determined that her feet and the feet of her family will remain firmly on the ground.”
But returning to normal life wasn’t an option and the riches came with certain complications.
It led to the purchase a huge, extravagant house called Lough Derg Hall. The €1.75m property in Killaloe, Clare, with stunning lakeside views, reportedly was once of interest to the acting legend Robert De Niro.
She also bought six homes around Limerick for her six children: Dawn, Gary, Kim, Kevanne, Dean and Lee.
Despite the joys of being able to set her loved ones up for life, the cash led to darker consequences, including Ms McNamara having to purchase 24/7 security at her home.
It came after a number of kidnap threats. One of her sons, his partner and their child were also said to have moved to a more private location after it emerged a local gang was rumoured to be planning an abduction.
Ms McNamara was also involved in a road accident, which led to a years-long legal battle. Her husband, Adrian, died in 2021. He was only in his 60s.
Now 64, Ms McNamara has nine grandchildren, according to CorkBeo. She keeps to herself and rarely gives interviews.
She told her local paper, the Limerick Leader: “The question that has been asked of me most frequently was how I felt about my win and my answer is still the same – I feel disbelief and shock.
“Buying a ticket for that Euro jackpot was a spur of the moment decision. I’d actually gone into the shop to buy a top-up for my phone and just asked the lady for a Lotto ticket.”