The poem takes place in a girls’ convent school somewhere in Ireland, although the exact area is not mentioned; it could be in a city just as easily as a more secluded rural environment. What’s clear is there is a religious influence within the school, yet at the same time it is delivering education in “the best modern way” (Line 6). In other words, it is a school with progressive ideas. The speaker’s act of visiting as part of his political duties suggests an interconnectedness with the social and political issues of the day. The setting then becomes a place where the old and the new come together, much like how the poem brings together considerations of youth and old age.