Meet the Barkeep: Christine Clampitt pours the fun at Jack Dolan’s

Every March, bartender and baker Christine Clampitt has a mission at Jack Dolan’s Irish Pub in Smithtown: turn the green all the way up for St. Patrick’s.

It’s not just shamrocks on the walls, Irish traditional music and Guinness pours galore inside the dining and bar establishment dedicated to “the old country.”

Clampitt, 39, draws on nearly two decades behind the bar — and a love for experimenting with recipes — to deliver a menu of festive drink and dessert concoctions during the pub’s busiest time of year.

Items like the “Leprechaun Lemonade,” “Lucky Charm Martini,” “Irish Molly Martini,” “Pot of Gold Spritzer” and “Shamrockarita” have become natural eye-catchers for regulars and new patrons alike.

And for that distinct St. Patrick’s Day hue craved this time of year, she deploys Midori and Dekuyper Sour Apple Pucker — avoiding every bartender’s enemy: green dye.

“It gets all over your hands and you look like a leprechaun,” Clampitt said with a laugh. “It’s not ideal.”

In the mornings, Clampitt — who also runs a baking business on the side as her “creative outlet” — tackles the housemade desserts. These include a Guinness chocolate cake topped with Bailey’s buttercream and a warm Guinness brownie.

In 2018, Clampitt got a call from Jack Dolan’s owner John Kearns to help him open the place.

She previously worked at JW’s Pub in Ronkonkoma from 2008 to 2017. Originally just a patron there, she was hired without any bartending experience — but her bubbly personality quickly made her a natural behind the bar.

For the rest, she says, it’s been a matter of “fake it till you make it.”

“You have to be able to do everything at once, and it’s a lot of listening,” she said. “You see everyone — some celebrating something, or trying to forget something — you get all the stories, you learn a lot of skills. And I’d like to think I’m a good time!”

For close to a year, she brought that energy to Sit & Sip, a dive bar where Kearns was one of her regulars. After it closed, he purchased the spot for a full renovation into what is now Jack Dolan’s, knowing exactly who he wanted helping to run the bar.

“I always joke that I’m the only thing left,” Clampitt said.

While initially hesitant to take the job as a new mother at the time, there hasn’t been a single regret since. Now with two kids, she enjoys a flexible schedule doing what she loves while serving the local community.