The Bishop of Cork & Ross has called for the exhumation of the remains of Little Nellie, so that she can be reburied in a location allowing access for devotees to pray at her grave.
Little Nellie is buried in the now derelict Good Shepherd Convent in Sunday’s Well, Cork which has gone into receivership. Bishop John Buckley told The Irish Catholic that she has “quite a devotion in Cork” and that he thinks “some arrangement could be made to move her to a more public place where people could pray”. “Maybe a suitable location in church grounds could be found, but that is a matter for discussion with the sisters and the diocese would be very open to that,” he said.
School
At the age of three, Little Nellie and her sister were placed into the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters at their industrial school in Sunday’s Well, upon the death of her mother in 1907. She amazed people with her strong faith and the then Bishop of Cork granted her special permission to receive Holy Communion aged just four-and-a half.
She died in the convent in 1908 and was buried in St Joseph’s Cemetery but when her body was exhumed for reburial in the convent grounds a year later, it was found to be intact.