Elphin

I was here with a friend who lives in the area, it’s her local.
Very typical Dublin bar and lounge with all male bar staff, neatly turned out in shirts, ties and trousers.
Had a drink knocked over me by accident, so ended up in the ladies trying to dry myself out. When I came back ten mins later the drink hadn’t been mopped up from the table or floor. My friend had to go up to counter, get napkins and mop it up herself! One star dropped for that.
That said it was still a grand night. And they have proper sized mixers, so can be used in a few drinks instead of the small poxy ones you normally get in pubs.

How I miss you. This was my local until I moved out of home across the big pond. I miss my nights there — maybe more for the friends than the place, but I have lots of fond memories. I’m sure it has changed a lot but I had a great pint when I was in during the summer. I’m sure to drop in for one each time I am home

The Elphin takes its name from a small town in county Roscommon, where the owner comes from.
When I arrived in Ireland 3 years ago I was astonished to see the place packed with families at lunchtime — untill I had a delicious lunch with fresh seafood from Howth there for myself.
It’s one of those pubs every taxi driver knows and which has a rather huge parking space (for a pub).
It actually is a little weird seeing loads of people heading to their cars at 1 am on a Friday or Saturday night — from the pint to the car I’d say… ;-)
The pub lies on the Dublin Bay side of Sutton, and as this is no real tourist hub, it is rare to see tourists there. I only know the place because I live 200 metres away.
Unlike the other reviewer, my opinion of the pub is a good one: pints are cheaper than in town, and most of the guests are locals and regulars.
I like the clean and chilled atmosphere, the food which is served all day and the little ‘indoor smoking area’ between the two bars.
I like the fact that the regulars are not alcoholics but normal people enjoying some pints.
I had funny evenings here — one day of the week is «Karaōke night», and you can see even elderly people taking part. This pub seems to be a still intact «social» place, a little bit the cliché about Ireland perhaps, where pubs are having a function which goes beyond getting drunk — an «enhanced living room» perhaps.
And I also like it that, as a non-​Irish citizen, I often met local people to chat with here, which doesn’t happen too often in town.
The Elphin in fact was so pleasant for some of my visitors from Germany that we went there nearly every night of their stay: why have overpriced pints in town, then a cab out to Sutton, if you can have a nice night out just on your doorstep?
Oh and since recently the pub has a small outdoor area, just in case when the weather decides to be nice :-)
The bartender might come over as a little «grumpy», but if you don’t take that too personally, you may find out that he is in fact a very nice and down-​to-​earth guy.
The Elphin also has a function room in the first floor which can be booked for parties.
If you happen to find yourself in the Sutton area and looking for a pint — go to the Elphin no matter which time of day or night!

The Elphin is owned by the same folks that own Dollymount House, and it was long rumoured that it too would be closed down in order to build an apartment block (like the Dollymount House, The Elphin has a large carpark, and a thus a large footprint.)
The Elphin isn’t the worst pub in the world, but it brings with it negative connotations for me as I had a rather unpleasant experience there soon after I first started drinking which I do not wish to dwell on, and as such will not recount here.
There are also some good memories, though. The Elphin is just around the corner from my secondary school, so we went there for scoops on our grad night. Good days.
I also miscalculated my leaving cert points in the Elphin when we had adjourned there upon receiving them. That was also a fun time, but was marred when the barman told us that we should drink up and leave after the next one. We asked why — we had only had three or four pints at this stage, and were by no means drunk. He replied that they had an over 21s policy, and that it was good of him to serve us the first few rounds. The whole over 21s thing didn’t seem to bother him when our money was filling the till.
Anyway, not the liveliest of places, but decent enough if you want a quiet pint or two of an evening.