Saugus woman wins trip to Ireland

Miller, 27, of Saugus, is the grand-prize winner of Kelly’s Roast Beef all-inclusive luxury vacation to Ireland.

The sweepstakes promotion honors 55 years of Kelly’s Roast Beef and the Irish heritage of its founders, Frank McCarthy and Raymond Carey. The contest took place at five restaurant locations in Massachusetts from Feb. 5 to March 5 and was co-sponsored by Coca Cola and Brian Moore International Tours.

At first Miller didn’t believe what she heard when a representative of Kelly’s Roast Beef called with the good news following the sweepstakes drawing on March 14.

“I honestly thought it was a joke,” Miller chuckled. “It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on — I mean you never expect to win something amazing like this.”

It makes sense that Miller might have been a little confused because she never actually filled out an entry for the contest. She has her mother to thank for filling out an entry form in her name and for the fact that she’ll soon be crisscrossing the Ireland countryside with her longtime boyfriend Nick Reynolds.

The couple has never been to Ireland before, but always wanted to make the trip, as they both have Irish roots.  

Miller said her sister visited Ireland last year and returned home with rave reviews, particularly about how nice everyone is over there. Now she can see for herself and compare notes with her sister about the best parts of the country.

Rachel’s mom Susan Miller is very happy that her daughter won the trip.

“Everything is paid for —the food, the hotel and the transportation,” said Rachel’s mom, who mentioned that she and her husband Timothy celebrate their wedding anniversary on St. Patrick’s Day.

Jennifer McRobbie of Brian Moore International Tours described the Ireland getaway as one of the best trips her company offers. It includes roundtrip airfare, eight days of hopping town-to-town on a luxury motor coach led by a tour guide, and exploring celebrated sites such as Blarney Castle, Jameson’s Whiskey Distillery and Trinity College.

Furthermore, the happy couple will get to stay overnight in castles and lavish four-star and five-star homes. Reynolds said he wants them to see as much as possible when they make the trip, likely in September.

“This is pretty amazing, Ireland is one of those places you always want to go, and now we have the chance to do it,” Reynolds said.

Dean Murphy, general manager of the Kelly’s Roast Beef in Saugus, said it didn’t surprise him someone local won the trip. After all, his restaurant received 5,000 more entries than the other four locations in the state.

 “I was excited the winner came from Saugus,” Murphy said. “The community makes up a lot of our customers and has been very good to us.”

Other prizes awarded in the contest included four sets of dugout seats and five pairs of grandstand tickets for a Red Sox game, 10 gift certificates to Kelly’s Roast Beef and two $100 gift cards to Jordan’s Furniture.

Another Saugus resident, Maryanne Tirore, took home one set of the Red Sox dugout seats.