Hey there, Dan. I think the only point is that some examples of what you and I know as Irish Soda Bread contain ingredients that likely were not part of everyday life back in Ireland. Nothing wrong with either kind of recipe as far as I can see. We can knit pick it to death or enjoy the similarities and differences.

Many home cooks glory in using what they have as well as they can. I wasn't living in Ireland at the time recipes like soda bread became widely used, yet I'd wager if a body got hold of something nice they'd add it to a plain old everyday recipe with pleasure.

I like to play with recipes. I used to have many family and traditional/historical recipes; some quite old. No longer.

Happy baking, everyone.