Carey’s Newsagents in the small town of Belmullet, County Mayo, Ireland, would be well within its rights to claim it is one the luckiest stores in the world.
It has been serving the population of Belmullet (population ~1000) for 40 years. In that time, it has sold no less than seven top jackpot lottery prizes. Most recently, the store sold a €5.419 million (USD$5.588 million) winning ticket. But the winner of that prize has yet to come forward.
Other big winners at the shop have mostly come within the past decade. In 2016, it sold the record Irish Lottery jackpot- winning ticket of €13.8 million. A year earlier, it sold two separate million Euro winners. There have been other big winners along the way, as well as the odd win of €10,000 or more here and there, the store owner says.
The Recent Winner
This week, the Irish National Lottery revealed that a €5.419 million jackpot-winning ticket had been purchased at Carey’s on December 28.
However, a week later, no one has come forward to collect their life-changing prize. The Lottery encouraged anyone who lives in the area or had visited Carey’s to check their tickets, or find them if they haven’t checked. In the largely rural area, many people don’t have the Lottery app installed for instant notifications of any win.
The owner of the family-run Carey’s spoke to the Irish Independent after hearing news of the big win.
“Our shop has been a cornerstone in Belmullet for over 40 years, and it’s safe to say we’ve had our fair share of National Lottery wins,” said Lorraine O’Connor Carey.
“We have many regular local customers, so it’s exciting to think that one of them might have had a life-changing win.”
Lucky Stores
Lorraine Carey took over management of the store from her father 10 years ago. Since then, she’s overseen the sale of four six-figure jackpots and two million-plus winners.
The winning streak began in earnest in 1991 with a €710,000 prize – which would be considerably more today, adjusted for inflation.
Since then, they’ve seen the record Irish Lottery win of €13.8 million, a €350,000 winner, a $500,000 EuroMillions winner, and two €1 million winners in 2017.
The shop’s fame as one of the luckiest in Ireland has also seen it attract tourists. One family specifically visited the store in 2017 while on a trip around the coast of County Mayo, and came back home with a €370,000 winning ticket.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
