Title: Entrepreneurship capital emerging in a coastal community

Authors: Emer Ni Bhradaigh

Addresses: Fiontar, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland

Abstract: This paper traces the evolution of the marine-resource-based enterprise in the rural Irish-speaking community of the County Galway Gaeltacht on the west coast of Ireland. The area has a long history of socioeconomic disadvantage coupled with high cultural capital in the form of the Irish language still being the majority community language. A longitudinal survey of corporate demography data, sourced from the official agencies responsible for the industrial and enterprise development in the area, for the period 1891 to 2003 is blended with qualitative analysis of the emergence of new forms of enterprise from cottage-based fishing activities to fish-farming and the more recent fledgling marine tourism. The delayed development of entrepreneurship capital in the community is discussed with reference to the human, social and cultural capital in the area. The benefits and limitations of longitudinal, multilevel research are also discussed.

Keywords: entrepreneurship capital; entrepreneurship history; longitudinal research; Ireland; costal communities; marine resources; natural resources; minority entrepreneurship; fishing; fish farming; marine tourism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2008.019134

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2008 Vol.6 No.3, pp.390 - 406

Published online: 30 Jun 2008 *

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