Posted online: Jun 24th, 2009

By Andrew Jennings
Reporter

LAST month the Kildare Post reported that a Maynooth builder had scooped a $41 million windfall in the US lottery.
Well, last Friday Donal Finnan (49) scored a lifetime of brownie points when he finally got around to collecting his winning cheque, and alongside a host of friends and family, he lovingly let his wife Niamh (44) claim the final prize, making sure her name was on the cheque.
Doting husband Donal – originally from Maynooth but living in Yonkers in New York for many years – landed the jackpot in the New York lottery on May 16 and he had no hesitation in declaring his love for his blushing beau, stating: “I think that much of her,” said Donal, a foreman for Broadway Concrete in New York City. “We’re a team.”
The modest pair were not boasting about their winnings claiming that they must “fix up” their house and perhaps splash out on a garden shed.
Orginally from Maynooth, the Finnan family recently moved to Broadford, where Donal’s family have been celebrating since word of his win crossed the pond last month.
The pair collected their winnings, which amounted to just over €15m after taxes, last Thursday.
“It’s hard to believe we are so fortunate,” Mr Finnan said. “We are really, really fortunate.”
The happy couple plan to stay in New York and continue working.
“This is just icing on the cake. We’ll take care of family. We have no real plans set in stone,” Niamh said.