Cork's Shandon Street buzzes with rumours after €250m EuroMillions win — but local legend says 'not me!'
Christy Forde, who has run his Shandon Upholstery business on the street for almost half a century, said that despite his remarkable winning streak in recent months, he did not hit the jackpot this time.
'Sure I'd have had a heart attack if I'd won that amount,' he said.
As celebrations erupted in Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street — the shop that sold the winning €250m EuroMillions ticket for last Tuesday's draw — Christy became the focus of intense speculation.
He had previously won the Millionaire Raffle, buying the winning ticket at Clifford's last Christmas and gifting it. The €100,000 prize remained local, he confirmed. He also recently won the church lotto and a soccer club raffle.
But on Friday, Christy admitted he enjoyed fuelling the EuroMillions rumour mill — with a twinkle in his eye.
'When I heard it was won in Ireland, I went into Clifford's on Wednesday to check my ticket,' he revealed. 'We didn't know at that stage that the winning ticket was sold in Cork, or even in Clifford's.
"I queued up and there was a crowd behind me and the staff checked my ticket, and when they gave it back to me, I shouted 'yes! yes!' and the whole place was stunned. But sure, if I'd won it at that stage, I'd have had a heart attack on the spot.
'So when it confirmed on Friday that it was sold in Clifford's, I thought, here's my chance — get famous. I'm famous on Shandon Street already,y but not all over Ireland. They know I'm a lucky man, so I went up to the top of the lane, and got out my ticket for the next draw, and said 'oh, me heart is thumping'.
Christy Forde, of Shandon Upholstery, the luckiest man on Shandon Street, Cork, who had to come clean to deny rumours he is Ireland's largest ever EuroMillions jackpot winner.
'Someone told me to sit down, and asked did I want some water, and if I was alright. Now, I never said I'd won it, but my intention was that Christy Forde would go sky high.
'But it wasn't me. Whoever it was, the blessings of God on them. They should do what I would do — they should keep working. If I won it, I wouldn't work at all on Saturday mornings, I'd take Saturday mornings off.'
The jaw-dropping €250 million jackpot sets the record for the largest prize ever won in Ireland.
It marks the 18th EuroMillions jackpot win in Ireland since the game began in 2004 and the 13th National Lottery millionaire of 2025.
Store owner Ted Clifford said it was still hard to believe his shop had sold the winning ticket.
'We are here on Shandon Street for 95 years and am so proud to be the third generation owner of Clifford's. We send our warmest congratulations to the winner and their family,' he said.
Just up the road, second-generation cobbler Martin Duggan advised the winner to take their time and let the scale of the win sink in.
'I've heard a few rumours of people buying a few rounds of drinks in the local pubs, but they're only rumours," he said.
"It's a mind-boggling amount of money. If it was a syndicate, I think it would be known already so it looks like it's a single winner.
'I think it's someone local, and we're delighted. It's great for the shop, it's great for the street."
National Lottery chief executive Cian Murphy described the moment as historic for both the National Lottery and the country, and a day of celebration for the community served by Clifford's.
'We are very well-versed in managing this. We advise all winners to sign the back of their ticket, keep their ticket safe and bring it to National Lottery HQ,' he said.
'We also advise them to get independent financial advice and independent legal advice.
'This is a life-changing amount of money, and it's very important that people get that advice.'
If the winner or winners choose to remain anonymous, Murphy added, the National Lottery would support them in maintaining their privacy.
Rumours were swirling across Leeside — that it's a family from Blarney, a 10-person syndicate on the northside, or a group of friends working in a pharmachem company.
One man, said to be in a 'winning syndicate,' denied the claim.
'And even if I did win, I wouldn't go public and here's why. I have loads of enemies, and I want to keep it that way,' he joked.
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