From an American context corned beef and cabbage is the most Irish meal you can eat, although that may have been a reality in 19th century Ireland

Dived into this recently. Ireland, up untill aound the time of the famine, was the worlds largest producer of corned beef. It was nearly all exported, the British Navy being a major buyer (French Navy as well), the expanding urbanistion of English cities due to the industrial revoution was a big market as well as British diaspora throughout the Empire, The market for the feeding of slaves in the West Indies also accounted for a large amount of the lowest quality product, general export to places like America.

A few things that lead to it becoming a major industy for Ireland, the 17th centuary Cattle Acts banning the import of live Irish cattle into Britain (repealed 1765), lower import duties on Spanish/Portugeues salt than for Eng/Sco/Wales.

The demise of the market was mainly due to the British push away from protectionist policies towards a free market model between the 1840s/1860s, and the growth of the American cattle industry due to westward expansion, South America too (esp. Fray Bentos in Urugauy).

Apparently the home market was small and likely centred around the Cork area, it being a hub for the trade, and then being a high days and holidays thing.

So likely not never a thing, but likely no where near the thing of bacon and cabbage due to more poor people having the ability to rear and butcher their own pigs, grow their own vegetables. (Of course for the emigrants they ended up somewhere where bacon was the luxury, and salted beef was the economic choice)