06/30/2026
Kathleen McNulty, gone, but her Spirit lives on. Read on for the story of her contribution to the USA and remember her as we celebrate 250 years!
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Kathleen Rita McNulty was born in Creeslough on February 12, 1921. Her father, Commandant of the Doe Battalion of the Irish Volunteers, was arrested on the night of her birth and imprisoned for two years for his republican activities. After his release, the family emigrated to Philadelphia.
A gifted mathematician, McNulty graduated as one of the few female math majors at Chestnut Hill College in 1942. During WWII, she was hired by the U.S. Army as a “Computer” and later selected to help program ENIAC, the world’s first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer. She is credited with creating the “subroutine,” a reusable block of computer code that became a foundation of software engineering.
Despite her vital role in ENIAC’s success, McNulty and her fellow women “computers” were largely overlooked when the machine was unveiled to the world. Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli died on April 20, 2006, having helped shape the digital world we live in today.
