L. RON HUBBARD

In February of 1956, when L. Ron Hubbard first arrived in Dublin’s Merrion Square to create The American College of Personnel Efficiency—a model for the first introductory course in Scientology—he observed that the Irish winter was lingering.

“If the weather is cold, the Irish heart is warm,” he wrote. “The country and the people could not be improved upon.”

Mr. Hubbard’s appreciation of the beauty of the Emerald Isle, and the warmth and friendliness of the Irish people, were characteristic observations for a man whose life’s devotion was to mankind and to his constant search to understand the world around him—both hallmarks of his work as a humanitarian.

As a prolific novelist, screenwriter, philosopher, explorer and student of humanity, his intellectual curiosity led him to discoveries that have since influenced millions of lives the world over—not only through the creation of Scientology, but through his quest to identify the true nature of man, and of all living creatures.

His signal work on the human mind, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, led to his discoveries of the human spirit and its full potentials, and the means to attain them—giving rise to the only significant religion to emerge in the 20th century.

His humanitarian interests were the driving force of his life. Now, some 60 years after Dianetics was revealed to the world, it remains an inspiration and a monument to his belief in service to mankind.

As the opening of the new National Affairs Office of Ireland begins a new chapter in those humanitarian efforts, Mr. Hubbard’s interest in and love for Ireland and the Irish brings full circle initiatives he launched here six decades ago—and which continue to flourish throughout the world today.