Recipes? Irish style stew & bread

Hola, all - This weekend I'm looking to make a hearty Irish-style stew and some bread to compliment (already got plenty of delicious stout to go with it!) I looked around at a bunch of recipes on the internet and got some that look good, but I figured I'd see if you all have anything that is tried and true and delicious (as most stuff posted here seems to be!). I don't necessarily need something totally authentic, just a nice hearty stew with beef, onions, potatoes, carrots, etc. I'd love to use lamb for authenticity, but it's a little harder to find/more expensive than a nice chunk of beef.

Also, anyone have anything good for soda bread or similar?

Finally finished paramedic school and would like to reward myself with a delicious stew now that I have some free time (gasp!) to devote to it!

Thanks!

Danny

BEER BREAD!


seriously, not enough people make Beer Bread, even though nothing is easier, and it is amazing


3 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz beer

Mix it all together, put in bread pan, bake at 350 for ~1 hour. Whatever beer you use will change the flavor of the beer. You can also add in ANY spices, cheeses, herbs, fruits that you like. A lambic w/ dried fruit is a great desert bread.
If you are making it to go with an Irish stew, use a stout and a couple spices. It will be great.

Basic Ingreadients Stew: (You pretty much had it)

Stewing Beef (Cheap; not lean)
Carrots & Parsnips (Chopped into Large Chunks)
Onions (Again Large Chunks)
Tomatoe Puree or maybe a tin of chopped tomatoes
Garlic
Some Thyme/Bay leaf/Rosemary (your choice of combination)
Guinness

Brown the meat,
Add everything else,
Simmer for hours,
Thicken with some corn flour if needed...

Edit: Didn't spot that it was bread you were looking for... I'll have a look...

Thanks! I was looking for both, just wanted to see if anyone had some recipes they use and knew were good!

http://www.moorings.ie/whitesoda.htm

and

http://ballina.mayo-ireland.ie/Brigown/SodaBrd.htm

and

http://www.odlums.ie/Recipes/R_BrSoda.html

All sound pretty authentic for Soda Bread