When Frances and Patrick Connolly realised they had won a £115mn EuroMillions jackpot, they sat in silence and stared at each other for 10 minutes, then made a cup of tea.
So began a new life for the couple from County Armagh in Northern Ireland on New Year’s Day, after scooping one of the biggest UK lottery wins in history.
They went public with the news yesterday at a press conference outside Belfast, where the Connollys announced they would share the prize with 50 friends and relatives.
“This is a massive sum of money and we want it to have a huge impact on the lives of other people we know and love, as well as on our future,” said Frances Connolly, 52, a teacher. “This win gives us the chance to really make a difference for our family and friends.”
Patrick Connolly, 54, a businessman, said his wife “nagged” him into buying a ticket, which he did online on January 1, choosing the lucky dip option that selects random numbers. He did so without much expectation, since the couple had never won more than £10.
Before going to bed, he checked the result and found they had the winning numbers: 01, 08, 11, 25, 28, with lucky stars 04 and 06. He rechecked four times – “I was sure it was a scam” – before telling his wife: “I think I’ve got some good news for you.”
She assumed they had won a modest sum. “I said it must be more than £2.60. We won £2.60 the week before.”
She did not believe him when he said they had hit the jackpot. “I said: ‘It must be a joke.’ He said: ‘I wouldn’t joke about that.’ Then we just stared at each other for 10 minutes.”
They spent a sleepless night together before phoning the lottery operator, Camelot, at 8am to verify the win. “Then it started to dawn on us that it was true even though it still hasn’t really sunk in,” said Patrick Connolly.
The £114,969,775.70 prize makes the Connollys, who rent a terraced house in the village of Moira, the fourth-biggest UK lottery winners in history and puts them in Northern Ireland’s rich list.
They have been together for 30 years and have three daughters, one aged 30 and twins aged 24, and three grandchildren. One of their three daughters is in New Zealand doing a master’s degree. She is travelling home and, during her stopover, has upgraded from a hostel to a modest hotel after the win.
Frances Connolly said the couple had always been happy, but the win would make them a “hell of a lot happier”. She expected the limelight cast on them by their good fortune to fade. “There are no skeletons, there are no dirty pictures, there is not enough to keep us in the public eye,” she said.
She said she would cry herself to sleep in frustration at not being able to help everyone. She named one planned beneficiary: St Francis FC, a community football club in Hartlepool, where the couple lived for 25 years. The teacher, who has been off work because of a leg injury, has no plans to buy a mansion. “I want a bungalow because I can’t walk up the stairs,” Frances Connolly added.
EuroMillions lottery winners, Frances and Patrick Connolly, pose during a photocall at the Culloden Hotel near Belfast yesterday.
