| Description | The Irish Hospitals' Sweepstake was a lottery established in the Irish Free State in 1930 as the Irish Free State Hospitals' Sweepstake to finance hospitals. At the time of its inception, lotteries were generally illegal in the United Kingdom and U.S.A. The sweepstakes became very popular in the absence of other readily available lotteries. Even though tickets were illegal outside of Ireland, millions were sold in the U.S. and Great Britain where most of the winners came from. |