Spike Island rejects claim of ‘cynical’ Little Nellie links

The Spike Island visitor attraction has rejected suggestions it has cynically exploited its link to Little Nellie, the “unofficial patron saint of Cork”.

It follows the recent blessing by Bishop of Cork and Ross John Buckley, of a room and exhibition on Spike dedicated to Ellen Organ, known as Little Nellie.

Ellen, who was born in Waterford in 1903, moved to Cork in 1905 when her soldier father was transferred to a British army base on Spike.