CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Longtime P.E.I. business and pub owners Liam and Kim Dolan have been named the 2021 entrepreneurs of the year by the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Kim and Liam embrace the spirit of entrepreneurship,” Colin Younker, the chamber’s board president, said in a press release. “Through their dedication to the family business, promotion of P.E.I.’s culinary offerings and contributions in the community, they set the standard for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow their path.”
Liam was 19 years old and a young chef when he moved to P.E.I. from Ireland in 1978.
He opened the Claddagh Room (later renamed the The Claddagh Oyster House) on Sydney Street in Charlottetown with his wife Kim, and then a few years later they opened the Olde Dublin Pub in the space upstairs.
Nearly a decade later in 1994, they acquired Peake’s Quay.
In 2018, the couple sold the Olde Dublin Pub and Claddagh Oyster House to Island businessmen Kent MacPhee and Kent Scales.
Liam Dolan also founded the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival in 1996. He has also been a board member of Restaurants Canada, and was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame last year.
Besides being a business owner, Kim Dolan is also a well-known P.E.I. curler and volunteer for events, such as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
"We are humbled, grateful and honoured to be recognized in our community as Entrepreneurs of the Year," said Kim Dolan. "We truly would like to thank the Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce for all the tireless, dedicated work they do on behalf of ours and all businesses."
The Dolans will be recognized for the award at the chamber’s President's Excellence Awards on March 24 at the Delta Hotel in Charlottetown.
Terrence McEachern is local business reporter for the SaltWire Network.
