| I was born Mary Angelus Mc Anulty on the 11th April 1935 in Belfast, N.Ireland. I am the eldest of three daughters, born to Thomas and Molly McAnulty and lived all my early life (until the age of 25 years) in the family home in Spinner Street, on the Falls Road.
At the tender age of four I started my education in St Vincent’s primary school. Unfortunately there was another girl in my class called May McNulty which caused some confusion amongst the teaching staff. Later the nuns decided to rename me by my confirmation name, ‘Philomena’, and from then on I was to be known by the alias Phil McNulty. Many of my school friends will not be aware that the author Mary A Larkin is in fact Phil McNulty from their childhood and teenage years.
Ten years later I left school and got employment at the famous Blackstaff Linen Mill where I worked in the weaving shop. When not at work I spent a lot of my spare time in the church, and at one time I seriously considered joining the Order of the Poor Clares before my friend Teresa McGarry persuaded me to accompany her to a learner class for ballroom dancing.
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