While figures like the pirate queen Grace O’Malley or political revolutionary Constance Markievicz often steal the historical spotlight, Irish history is packed with brilliant, complex, and boundary-pushing women. These individuals left an incredible mark on science, society, and the arts, yet they are less widely known outside of academic circles. Here are five fascinating women from Ireland’s past who deserve a closer look.
The Donegal “Computer” Who Sparked the Tech Age
Kay McNulty Mauchly Antonelli (1921–2006)
Born in a small, Irish-speaking village in County Donegal, Kay McNulty emigrated to the United States as a child. She excelled at mathematics and, during World War II, was hired by the US military to calculate ballistics trajectories by hand.
In 1945, she was selected as one of the six original programmers for the ENIAC, the world’s first general-purpose electronic computer. At the time, there were no programming languages or manuals; Kay and her colleagues had to study the machine’s physical electrical circuits and charts to figure out how to make it work. When the ENIAC was unveiled to the public, the male engineers received the credit, while the women who made it run were largely ignored. Kay’s pioneering work in software development was only formally recognized decades later.
The Irish Oskar Schindler
Mary Elmes (1908–2002)
Mary Elmes was a Cork native, an exceptional Trinity College graduate, and a humanitarian worker. During World War II, she worked with the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker organization) in Vichy France, overseeing relief efforts for displaced people.
When the Nazi authorities began deporting Jewish people from French internment camps to concentration camps in the east, Elmes risked her life to act. She used her vehicle, forged documentation, and a network of safe houses to smuggle hundreds of Jewish children out of the Rivesaltes camp, saving them from near-certain death. She was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned for several months but refused to cease her humanitarian efforts upon her release. Today, she is the only Irish citizen honored as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem.
The Record-Breaking Aviator
Lady Mary Heath / Sophie Peirce-Evans (1896–1939)
Born in Limerick, Sophie Peirce-Evans lived a life that sounds like an adventure novel. Before taking to the skies, she was a dispatch rider in World War I, an accomplished athlete, a pioneer of women’s track and field, and wrote the definitive book on the subject.
Renaming herself Lady Mary Heath, she took up aviation and became the first woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in Britain. In 1928, she achieved global fame by becoming the first person—male or female—to fly solo in an open-cockpit plane from Cape Town to London, a grueling 9,000-mile journey. She was a massive international celebrity in the late 1920s, heavily promoting the safety and future of commercial aviation, though her legacy was sadly obscured by a later, near-fatal crash and an early death.
The Creative Engines of the Celtic Revival
The Yeats Sisters: Lily (1866–1949) and Lolly (1868–1940)
History textbooks frequently praise the poet W.B. Yeats and his artist brother Jack B. Yeats, but their sisters, Susan “Lily” and Elizabeth “Lolly” Yeats, were central to the Irish Arts and Crafts movement.
Trained in embroidery and printing, the sisters co-founded Dun Emer Industries (and later Cuala Industries), an all-female craft cooperative near Dublin. Lolly ran the Cuala Press, becoming the first woman in Ireland to operate a printing press. She published works by her brother William, Patrick Pearse, and Ezra Pound, establishing a visual identity for modern Irish literature. Lily was a master embroiderer whose intricate textiles were sold internationally. Together, they provided sustainable employment for young Irish women and proved that art could be a viable economic force for the nation.
The Survivor of Ireland’s First Witch Trial
Dame Alice Kyteler (c. 1263–after 1324)
For a much earlier and darker slice of history, Dame Alice Kyteler of Kilkenny is a captivating figure. She was a wealthy, independent businesswoman in Norman Ireland who amassed a huge fortune through her work as a merchant and moneylender.
Alice married four times, and each of her wealthy husbands died under mysterious circumstances, leaving her their fortunes. Her stepchildren, furious at being cut out of their inheritances, joined forces with the local Bishop of Ossory to accuse Alice of heresy, sorcery, and poisoning. This became the first recorded witchcraft trial in Ireland. Using her extensive political connections and immense wealth, Alice managed to escape the country to England just before she was due to be burned at the stake. She vanished from history, though her unfortunate maid, Petronella de Meath, was executed in her place.
