Lotto jackpot won in ‘millionaire’s row’ of south Dublin

Every homeowner on The Rise in Mount Merrion is on paper at least a millionaire.

A house on this most-sought after area of South Dublin will cost at least €1 million. The last house sold on the road fetched €1,065,000 a year ago and that was surpassed in July last year by one which sold for €1,260,000.

The original builder John Kenny had permission for 20 houses an acre on The Rise in the 1930s. Instead he built six per acre to create a wealthy enclave with baths, indoor toilets, hot and cold water plumbing and electricity, luxuries by the standards of the time. Each house was set on a half acre of ground.

The Rise has kept its exclusivity. Its residents don’t need to win the lottery, but one may have scooped the €2.3 million jackpot.

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The ticket was sold at XL on the Rise, a fixture of the area since it opened in 1973. The winning ticket was sold on Wednesday. Its owner has not yet come forward to claim the prize.

As the owner Adrian Peters posed outside the shop, Mr Peters never sold a winning Lotto jackpot ticket before though he did sell a ticket which won one player £100,000, 28 years ago.

He said “you’ll get nothing on this road under a million” on The Rise though it is not stopped many young couples moving into the area. He’s also going on holidays to the Canary Islands prompting a few locals to ask him if he had actually sold himself the winning ticket. “Unfortunately not,” he said laughing.

“We’re a small family run, local shop in the heart of Mount Merrion. We’re surrounded by a cluster of shops like the local hairdresser and chemist.

“Ah it was great to get the phone call that we’d sold the winning ticket. In these current times, it’s nice to get a bit of positive news.”

It’s the second Lotto jackpot that has been won in a week, Lowthe’s in Duleek, Co Meath sold a €8.9 million ticket last Wednesday week.

Lotto wins have become like London buses. At the start of the year the viability of the Lottery was called into question. There had been 50 successive roll overs lasting six months without a winner.

The long losing streak was ended in January with a must be won jackpot which was scooped by an anonymous Mayo punter. There have been 31 lotto millionaires since then.