She told The Irish Times she assumed the email was “some sort of scam” and dismissed it entirely until she scrolled further down through her inbox and realised there was also an email from the cottage owners and the Mayo-based auctioneer assisting with the home transfer.
She then realised she had secured her “dream home” way out west after an investment of just €50.
“I bought five tickets a couple of weeks after reading about the cottage in The Irish Times earlier this summer but then I forgot about it completely,” she said.
The home near Foxford, Co Mayo was raffled by the Canada-based Irish owners and raised just short of €1 million which will now be used to fund educational bursaries for frontline healthcare support staff.
The couple are both Covid-19 survivors and decided in June to raffle their house because they wanted to give something back after their experience with the virus.
The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, expressed the hope that she would be able to travel from her Dublin home to the cottage a couple of times a month and would also be able to stay there for extended periods. “Like most people now I am working remotely so I will be able to do my job from anywhere,” she told The Irish Times.
Her siblings can also look forward to getting keys to the new cottage and will be able to use it as a holiday home, as will her friends. “It is just so brilliant, not only have I won but so much money was raised for charity and it is great so to see the health workers getting the recognition they deserve.”
