By Dionne Meehan
A DONEGAL woman is among the scientists honoured by Mét Eireann in its list of storm names for the 2023/24 season.
Mét Eireann, along with the national weather services of the UK and the Netherlands, have this week released the list of new storm names for the 2023/2024 storm season.
Naming one of their storms after Creeslough woman Kathleen ‘Kay’ McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Met Éireann chose names of eminent Irish/Northern-Irish scientists, to honour their important contributions to science and benefits for humankind.
Kay, a native of the outskirts of Creeslough in Feymore, has long been recognised as one of the world’s first computer programmers.
When Kay McNulty was recruited to work on the ENIAC, the world’s first electronic computer, the machine had no operating instructions, only wiring diagrams, that she and her fellow lady mathematicians were tasked to make sense off.
The logical functions that she and her co-workers developed allowed them to programme the computer in a time when programming was something that people never thought about.
So it’s no stretch of truth to say Kay McNulty invented the subroutine.
In 1997, Kay was inducted to the Women in Technology hall of fame, and in Ireland, an academic award and university science building have been named in her honour.
Kay passed away in 2006, but her legacy has continued to grow and in 2010, a documentary was released focusing on the rarely acknowledged efforts of Kay and her colleagues.
Earlier this year, a memorial was unveiled in Creeslough at The Corner Of The Garden to honour Kay McNulty’s incredible legacy.
The full 2023/24 storm list is Agnes, Babet, Ciarán, Debi, Elin, Fergus, Gerrit, Henk, Isha, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Lilian, Minnie, Nicholas, Olga, Piet, Regina, Stuart, Tamiko, Vincent and Walid.
The letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, which is in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention.
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