The tractor was dispensed with and a white Hummer was hired as Donegal sheep farmer Odhrán Doherty (23) rolled up in style at Lotto headquarters in Dublin last Saturday, March 30.
Odhrán claimed the €1 million top prize from the Lotto Plus 1 draw from last Saturday, with a ticket gifted to him by his dad Liam.
The father and son are very close and work together on the family farm at The Glebe in Letterkenny.
Odhrán, who arrived in a jubilant mood with family and friends, said he was completely shocked when he checked the lottery results on Saturday night and realised that he had won the sizeable sum of money.
Odhrán said he was going to a party in a local bar that evening and called into the adjoining shop to check his ticket. His dad Liam said:
“He rang me and said the ticket he had said he was a winner. He checked with the guy in the shop but they said it was too big for them to tell him how much he had won.
He told me I had better come out. I thought it was an early April’s Fool joke or something. When I got out to him he came out of the party with his hands above his head and said he was a millionaire.
“I took the ticket off him for safe-keeping and we realised later there was only one winner of the €1 million.
Odhrán with his brother Shane; his mum Margaret; dad Liam; and sister Lana at the Lottery HQ after collecting his winnings. Image source: Mac Innes Photography
A former pupil of Woodlands National School and St. Eunan’s College in Letterkenny, Odhrán is big into farm machinery and a new vehicle could well be on the cards with his new-found wealth.
The Donegal man is the 14th millionaire created since Lotto and Lotto Plus game enhancements were introduced last September.