Between the years 1932 and 1936 a team of American academics from Harvard University, Massachusetts, led by Earnest Hooton[1] conducted a pioneering anthropological study of Ireland, north and south, which was called the Harvard Irish Mission.
The results of the study were published in a series of academics papers and monographs between in 1936 and 1955.
The Mission had a major influence on the development of academic knowledge in and about Ireland and many of the publications continue to be cited by modern scholars across a wide range of disciplines.
[2] C. Arensberg and S. Kimball came to the west of Ireland as part of the ‘Harvard Irish Project’.
The name of the study is referred to by a number of labels in academic and popular media, including "Harvard Irish Survey" and "Harvard Irish Mission".