THERE’S a lot to be said for the luck of the Irish.

Imagine celebrating your birthday on St Patrick’s Day after winning more than £3,000 on national TV.

Ryan Gallacher, 24, found the pot of gold at the end of his rainbow after scooping the prize on ITV’s The Chase game show.

The trainee heating engineer, of Wheatley, had to keep his exploits a secret from his friends for eight months before receiving a flurry of messages during the show when it aired on Monday.

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Mr Gallacher, a secondgeneration Irishman, said: “It’s been a crazy few days.

It was a good present from ITV and my 24th birthday certainly won’t be one I’ll forget.

“The only people that knew were my parents, my girlfriend, my sister and my grandad.

“I managed to keep it a secret from my friends and the guys at Bicester Rugby Club.

“It was mad as soon as it aired. I must have had a screen shot of the show sent to me every five seconds.

It was relentless.”

The early evening quiz show sees four contestants go up against a professional quizmaster.

Each of them individually takes on the Chaser to accrue money before the most successful contestants team up to win the pot.

On Monday’s show, presented by Bradley Walsh, Mr Gallacher took on Paul “The Sinnerman” Sinha – who is ranked 20th in the national quiz rankings and came 31st in last year’s World Quizzing Championships.

A love of the show inspired the Bicester Rugby Club forward to audition.

He said: “The main reason I applied was because I love the show. I just wanted to be part of it and Bradley Walsh is quality.

“I didn’t do any practice really, apart from a few rugby club quizzes. When I won I was ecstatic.”

Mr Gallacher took £4,000 off the Chaser in his opening round.

Alongside his team-mate – who contributed £3,000 – the pair defeated the quizmaster and split the pot.

The Wheatley resident told host Mr Walsh he was looking for between £10,000 and £15,000 to start his own patisserie business.

His £3,500 winnings weren’t quite enough, but have been put towards the dream.

Mr Gallacher describes himself as “Oxford Irish”

after his grandparents moved to the city from Kilkenny in the 1950s.

His mother Anne-Marie Gallacher is a former Irish Dancing World Champion and used to run Doyle’s Academy of Irish Dancing.

And of having his birthday on March 17, he said: “It’s a great day to have a birthday.”