. . the song will play on

Walking down the long path to the imposing facade of Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham I had mixed feelings of hope and trepidation. I had made the journey to seek out a familiar face from my childhood in India.

The school crest etched on the glass door assured me that I was not entirely a stranger to the place. I know the words emblazoned on that crest by heart, after 13 years of an education under the same order in Loreto Convent, Lucknow - Maria Regina Angelorium, Cruci Dum Spiro Fido.

Sister Anne Maher had been one of the dominant influences of my childhood as the principal at Loreto Convent, Lucknow during the Junior and Leaving Cert equivalent years in 1982 and 1984. That rounded, inclined, well-defined handwriting is as firmly etched in my memory as it is on every certificate from my school. Now retired, she lives as a resident nun at Stonepark Abbey, Rathfarnham. I knew my visit to Ireland would be incomplete if I did not meet her.

My call on the bell was rewarded with the familiar face of Sister Anne opening the door, and it was as if the memories came tumbling out. I was amazed at her clear recollections of the school. The evening was peppered with anecdotes of school life - mine as a pupil, hers as a principal. For one-and-a-half hours, we transported ourselves back in time to the school that played such an important role in bringing us together.

I could not help feeling sadness at the sight of a note in the front hall, informing past pupils of the final reunion. Many Indian Loretos have been closed too. Loreto Shimla, a prestigious boarding school in north India, was one of several to close in the last decade. As in Ireland, fewer admissions to the Loreto order and the mushrooming growth of day schools in India have left most of the boarding schools run by Irish nuns with little choice but to shut up shop. and move on.

Only it was not a shop. The Loreto order's tradition and reputation is renowned in India and very often one generation follows on the heels of another to join the same school. My own daughter, a student of Loreto Convent, Lucknow, is a third-generation pupil from my family.

I hope I can return in time to Rathfarnham to discover the Abbey turned into a conservatoire, a library or a research centre, to enable it to retain its position as a hall of learning. Although there will be no more girls passing out into the world from Rathfarnham, miles away, across the seas, its name will continue to echo in the school chorus sung by girls at the many Indian Loretos. Every morning students at all the schools under the order will pay tribute to this land, remembering "that fair isle where the first Loreto stands" - many unaware that it no longer does!

Shirin Khan was on work experience with The Irish Times as part of a scholarship programme at the University of Westminster