It was the luck of something -- twice -- that has proven plentiful for a Limerick grandmother.
Not two weeks after Dolores McNamara escaped death after a terrorist attack in the Turkish tourist city of Kusadasi, she won the largest lottery in Europe's history.
The 50-year-old grandmother won €115 million euros ($140 million) in the EuroMillions game.
McNamara had been vacationing at her holiday home in the resort town at the time of the attack, but escaped without injury.
The Co. Limerick factory worker is said to have gone into hiding as the impact her winnings will have on her life arise.
Friends have spoken to the press about the down-to-earth mother of six, who was headed to her local pub last week when she bought the winning ticket on a lark.
She was still in the bar when the lottery draw came on the television and was said to have begun "screaming and roaring" before bursting into tears when her numbers came in.
The large prize was unusual, and though the game is played across Europe there had not been a jackpot winner since May, so the winnings had rolled over nine times.
With the €115 payout, McNamara becomes the 70th richest person in Ireland, surpassing both Hollywood star Colin Farrell and famed footballer Roy Keane.
Photographers and reporters from across Europe have decamped outside Dublin's National Lottery offices, waiting for McNamara to claim her ticket.
Under the lottery's rules, winners must collect their check in person.
McNamara, who works on the production line at a pharmaceutical plant, asked local Gardai to look after the ticket.
It was reported on BBC News that local Gardai had the local bank's manager come by to collect for safe keeping in the bank's vault.
With the knowledge that her winning ticket was safe, McNamara was able to enjoy a champagne toast with friends in the pub.
Neither McNamara nor her husband, Adrian, who recently underwent a triple-bypass, has been seen in public since.
EuroMillions tickets are also sold in the UK, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, France, Luxembourg, and Spain.
The National Lottery operates Euromillions in the Republic of Ireland.
The winning numbers were 3, 19, 26, 49 and 50, and Lucky Stars 4 and 5.
Europe's previous biggest lottery draw prize was £72m (€105 million) won in Italy's Superenalotto in May.
The world's largest-ever individual prize was won by Andrew Whittaker, who won $314.9 million in the U.S.'s Powerball game in 2002.
