When winning a Cork GAA club lotto is as easy as 1,2,3,4

The chances of 1, 2, 3, and 4 being the winning numbers in a 32-number lottery are reportedly about 36,000 to 1, but — according to one club wag — Clyda Rovers often played against steeper odds.

The Clyda Rovers GAA and Mourneabbey Ladies Football Club Lotto jackpot last month was €7,050, and with that statistically unlikely winning combination, the prize was won and shared by Aoife O’Mahony and club stalwart Jerry O’Donoghue.

Club secretary Liam Cronin told The Echo that the members were delighted the jackpot had been won, and said there had been disbelief when the four numbers were drawn.

“The numbers were drawn by people around the bar and the numbers came back 1, 2, and 4. Our chairman Johnny Walsh was there and he said ‘Surely be to God 3 won’t be drawn as well’, and wasn’t that the fourth number that returned,” he said.

Mr Cronin joked that card players across the county would be quaking in their boots now that Mr O’Donoghue has more money to spend on petrol.

“He’ll be able to get out to now places like Newtownshandrum and Kanturk that were until now outside of his range, he’ll be able to get up now to all of those places,” he said.

“Anywhere in the county now where they’ll go in playing cards, Jerry will be sitting at the table before them, and they’ll know they’ll have to buy a Clyda Rovers lottery ticket.”

It’s not the first time that coincidence and good fortune have struck in Mourneabbey, and in the relatively recent past, one member the club twice won the lottery, with three years between those wins.

The club lottery is not the only fundraiser that Clyda Rovers and its sister club Mourneabbey Ladies Football Club are involved in.

The clubs recently hosted the Pure Cork Quiz, which was held at the Mourneabbey Community Centre last month.

The organisers had promised guest appearances from Pure Cork Legends and did not disappoint the packed-out hall when both Roy Keane and Jimmy Barry Murphy lent their support to the fundraiser.

The quiz was part of the fundraising for the Mourneabbey Movie Awards Night, raising funds for the Mourneabbey community complex. The Movie Awards night will be on Saturday, February 7, at the Charleville Park Hotel.

The fundraising event seeks to advance the improvement of Mourneabbey community complex and pitches, while also supporting the planned extension of the community centre.

For further details, see the Mourneabbey Movie Awards Night Facebook page.