Luck of the Irish
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| Stephen Kirwan of Purling and his wife Catherine accept a check for $122 million during a news conference in Albany Friday. Stephen Kirwan purchased the winning Powerball ticket at the Clothespin Laundromat in Catskill last month. Photo by Doron Tyler Antrim |
Retired fireman from Purling introduced as Greene’s first Powerball winner
By Doron Tyler Antrim
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Chalk it up to the luck of the Irish.
Wearing a shiny green hat complete with a shamrock, Stephen Kirwan of Purling was announced Friday as the winner of the $122 million Powerball jackpot.
Kirwan, 68, whose home on Bailey Road burned down last winter, says some of the winnings will go to rebuild it.
He has opted to take the one lump sum payment of more than $61 million, or $40.4 million after taxes.
He and his wife Catherine, 61, accepted their prize during a news conference in the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
“It still hasn’t sunk in,” Kirwan said. “I guess I got a lifetime of luck all at once.”
On Jan. 22, Kirwan entered the Clothespin Laundromat in Catskill to purchase a Quick Draw ticket when he decided to play Powerball, too. That turned out to be a wise choice as he discovered the next morning.
“I sat at the kitchen table on Sunday morning and checked my numbers in the paper as usual,” he said. “I checked those numbers three times before I finally turned to my wife and said ‘I think I won.’”
Kirwan picked his numbers at random. “They don’t mean anything,” he said.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 195 million.
Kirwan claimed the ticket Feb. 7.
The Kirwans have two children, 26-year-old Stephen Kirwan Jr., who owned the former Kirwan’s Game Store in Catskill, and 25-year-old Christine Kirwan.
After moving to Purling in 1987 after 24 years with the New York City Fire Department, Kirwan began working at Stiefel Labs in Oak Hill. He retired in 2004.
While speaking to reporters following the news conference, Kirwan said he has no plans to leave Purling. “I’m comfortable where I am,” he said.
Kirwan has no definitive plans for how much of the money will be spent, but said he wants to treat his family to a cruise.
Kirwan purchased the ticket for $5. The winning numbers were 30-31-34-45-51 plus Powerball 23.
This isn’t the first time Kirwan has won money from the Lottery. He said he once won $800 from Take 5.
A married couple from Wilton, Saratoga County also accepted a Powerball prize Friday totaling $48.8 million.
Jeffrey and Christine Pintuff, both 58, have opted to take the one lump sum payment of $24.8 million, or $16.4 million after taxes.
The $1 Quick Pick ticket was purchased on Christmas Day at the Stewart’s Shop in Wilton.
The Pintuffs claimed their ticket Feb. 1.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Wearing a shiny green hat complete with a shamrock, Stephen Kirwan of Purling was announced Friday as the winner of the $122 million Powerball jackpot.
Kirwan, 68, whose home on Bailey Road burned down last winter, says some of the winnings will go to rebuild it.
He has opted to take the one lump sum payment of more than $61 million, or $40.4 million after taxes.
He and his wife Catherine, 61, accepted their prize during a news conference in the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
“It still hasn’t sunk in,” Kirwan said. “I guess I got a lifetime of luck all at once.”
On Jan. 22, Kirwan entered the Clothespin Laundromat in Catskill to purchase a Quick Draw ticket when he decided to play Powerball, too. That turned out to be a wise choice as he discovered the next morning.
“I sat at the kitchen table on Sunday morning and checked my numbers in the paper as usual,” he said. “I checked those numbers three times before I finally turned to my wife and said ‘I think I won.’”
Kirwan picked his numbers at random. “They don’t mean anything,” he said.
The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are one in 195 million.
Kirwan claimed the ticket Feb. 7.
The Kirwans have two children, 26-year-old Stephen Kirwan Jr., who owned the former Kirwan’s Game Store in Catskill, and 25-year-old Christine Kirwan.
After moving to Purling in 1987 after 24 years with the New York City Fire Department, Kirwan began working at Stiefel Labs in Oak Hill. He retired in 2004.
While speaking to reporters following the news conference, Kirwan said he has no plans to leave Purling. “I’m comfortable where I am,” he said.
Kirwan has no definitive plans for how much of the money will be spent, but said he wants to treat his family to a cruise.
Kirwan purchased the ticket for $5. The winning numbers were 30-31-34-45-51 plus Powerball 23.
This isn’t the first time Kirwan has won money from the Lottery. He said he once won $800 from Take 5.
A married couple from Wilton, Saratoga County also accepted a Powerball prize Friday totaling $48.8 million.
Jeffrey and Christine Pintuff, both 58, have opted to take the one lump sum payment of $24.8 million, or $16.4 million after taxes.
The $1 Quick Pick ticket was purchased on Christmas Day at the Stewart’s Shop in Wilton.
The Pintuffs claimed their ticket Feb. 1.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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