Despite a lack of attention in national and European policy, professional doctorates in Ireland and the United Kingdom have grown in popularity since their introduction in the early 2000s. Such programmes offer learners an alternative to the traditional PhD, framed in a context of doctorate level study which both informs and is informed by, professional practice. Definitions of such programmes emphasise this professional practice grounding as the defining feature of the professional doctorate and yet there is little evidence of such contributions to practice, the workplace or the profession more broadly. This study focuses on two aspects of undertaking one such type of programme, the Doctor of Education (EdD). Firstly, it asks the “why”, exploring the multifaceted reasons for pursuing an EdD. Secondly, the study explores the contribution of such programmes for the learner, their workplace and their wider professional and academic communities. The study of impact or contribution is a complex one, and the researcher acknowledges that one cannot suggest a simple cause and effect relationship between programme and practice. Instead, the focus is on the perceptions of the learner to answer five central questions: 1. What motivated the students/graduates to pursue the EdD? 2. How do the students/graduates perceive the contributions of their EdD? Where and when do these occur? 3. What are the more tangible contributions of the EdD? 4. How do the students/graduates recognise and describe the more intangible contributions? 5. Are these contributions resulting from the process, the product, or both? The study adopts a mixed-method case study approach, looking at one EdD programme in an Irish context. The study commences with an extensive literature review which informed the development of a conceptual framework and a detailed survey instrument – the first phase of this mixed-method study. This is followed up with a second phase, involving in-depth interviews with 14 of the survey respondents, from a range of professional backgrounds. The study revealed wide-ranging contributions including personal and professional development, career implications, workplace and practice contributions and contributions to wider professional and academic communities.