A Letterkenny family are celebrating after a father gave his son a €1m winning lotto ticket.
Odhran Doherty, who is just 23 years old, was given the lucky ticket by his dad Liam last weekend.
The pair are very close and work together on the family farm at The Glebe, Letterkenny.
The family never thought their numbers would come up but Odhran was left speechless on Saturday evening when he checked the numbers on the ticket and realised he was the only winner.
Dad Liam revealed how he had bought three lottery tickets in the shop, one each for himself and wife Margaret and one for Odhran.
Odhran was going to a party in the local Dry Arch bar at Bonagee that evening and called into the adjoining shop to check his ticket.
Speaking exclusively to Donegal Daily dad Liam revealed “He rang me and said the ticket 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 one million euro.”
Mum Margaret says the family have been on a high since learning they won the jackpot.
“He simply couldn’t believe it at first but it soon sunk in and he was just so delighted. I have a pain in my neck from all the hugs he has given me.
“He’s a lovely big young fella and this will set him up now for life. We’re just so delighted for him,” said Margaret.
Odhran is the youngest of three siblings.
Eldest brother Shane is a pharmacist and has his own pharmacy in Manchester while sister Lana is a solicitor with a practice in Gorey, Co Wexford.
Having put the ticket in a safe place Odhran decided he would call in on Barclay’s shop in Raphoe where dad Liam had bought the lotto ticket.
Odhran spoke with owner James Barclay and asked him if he knew who the owner of the winning lotto ticket was.
Mr Bartley replied he had heard some rumours but didn’t know who exactly had won the €1 million.
Margaret added “That’s when Odhran stuck out his hand and told James Bartley that he was speaking with the winner. It sounds so funny but that would be Odhran alright.”
A former pupil of Woodlands National School and St Eunans College in Letterkenny, Odhran is big into farm machinery and a new vehicle could well be on the cards with his new-found wealth.
Mum Margaret added “We won’t let it go to his head. We’ll sit down as a family and we have two solicitors in the family so he won’t be short on advice.”
The small border town of Raphoe in Co. Donegal has claimed its third big National Lottery win of the year, with a local shop selling last night’s Lotto Plus 1 winning ticket worth a massive €1 million!
Barclay’s Newsagents in the Diamond, Raphoe, is certainly on a winning streak.
This is their second big win in recent weeks.
The sold a EuroMillions Plus winning ticket landing local man Charlie Meehan €500,000 in February.
And in an incredible run of luck the Centra Store in Raphoe sold the winning Match 5 Plus Bonus winning ticket from the Lotto Draw on Feb 28th – nabbing that ticket holder a cool €98,068.
Odhran’s one million euro winning numbers were: 8, 11, 16, 18, 20, 46 and bonus number 40.
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