Great empty buildings, which only a few decades ago were bustling convents, tower over most towns and villages in Ireland, but they represent a world which is disappearing along with the once all-powerful Irish Roman Catholic Church. In this series of The Essay, Olivia O'Leary, convent-educated and a lapsed Catholic, asks where all the Irish nuns have gone.

In her second essay, Olivia describes the education which the nuns gave her, which was first class. These were almost the only university-educated professional women she and her classmates knew, and they wielded power. They ran big organisations and took a real interest in Irish women’s education when the state did not. They were often more ambitious for girls than their parents were.

Presenter Olivia O'Leary