Macroom man ‘isolated’ windfall of over €580k

A MACROOM building contractor is celebrating after winning over €580,000 while isolating at home due to being a Covid close contact.

Brendan Murphy scooped a bumper festive payout on ‘Lottoland’, a website which allows people play lotteries in other jurisdictions.

He won the amount when isolating at home as a Covid-19 close contact, having to miss his younger brother’s wedding as a result.

The father-of-three said it took a while for the news to sink in.

‘When the wheel was spinning, it just landed on the Jumbo Jackpot and I had to kind of look and I said “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” It’s still unbelievable, to be honest,’ he said. Looking forward, Brendan and his family haven’t had much of a chance to make plans yet, although one purchase has been decided early on: ‘I think my wife wants to buy a new Jeep alright! But yeah, we’ll just have to have a serious sit down. It’s a super amount of money ... it’s life changing.’

Graham Ross, country manager for Lottoland Ireland, said: ‘We’re delighted for Brendan that he’s claimed such a massive prize, becoming Lottoland’s biggest ever jackpot winner in Ireland. Not much can make up for missing your brother’s wedding, but winning €580,015.20 at Christmas time must go pretty close!’