The farmer, who wishes to remain unnamed, bought the ticket in Portlaoise, Co Laois, in April, but only uncovered the ticket this week.

The wife of the farmer couldn’t believe her good fortune when the forgotten ticket turned up as she searched her car for loose change for a parking meter while she was out shopping on Thursday.

The farmer’s wife expressed her delight at the win.

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Mad scramble

“I was desperately looking for coins to fill the meter when I spotted four lottery tickets stuffed with rubbish in the side pocket of the driver’s door.

"I thought I better bring them into the shop to get them scanned, just in case. I could not believe my luck when I was told to ring the National Lottery office, that I had won a significant amount,” she said.

Hard graft

The couple intend on using their winnings to pay off some of the mortgage.

“We are farmers and it is a hard graft," she said.

"Like so many people we have had a tough time financially in recent years so this is a great win and will take the pressure off. We weren’t going to take a holiday this year because of the cost, but we ended up booking a sun break in March as the weather was so bad.

"So it will be a special one for us. We will be able to splash out a bit."

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Scratch that! Longford farm family wins big on lotto