waves hi, I am from Dublin and I know abit about Cork and Kerry as I have family there.
Dublin city centre is expensive but Im sure I can find a place for you. Honestly for a first time USA tourist there not that many places I would recommend that are not city centre. Once you leave the city centre, the public transport is not that good
City Centre Hotels
Temple Bar area in Dublin is the tourist trap area. It would be similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans or the Las Vegas Strip. It is the go to area for bachelor and bachelorette parties as there are alot of pubs and clubs in a small area. There are a number of hotels located here
https://www.fleethoteltemplebar.com/
https://www.blooms.ie/
http://www.themorgan.com/
https://www.fitzsimonshotel.com/
http://www.parliamenthotel.ie/ it says its in Temple Bar, but its at the very edge of Temple Bar, in a less grotty part and is across the street from Christ Church.
Just up the road, near Trinity College is
http://www.mercantilehotel.ie/en/
This is the Irish hotel chain
https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/dublin/christchurch it is across the street from Christ Church.
This hotel is about 3 blocks from Christ Church and St Patricks but again a very central location
https://www.radissonblu.com/en/royalhotel-dublin
This is where my friends stay when they come to Dublin
http://www.arlington.ie/ Its about half a block from Dublins main Street O'Connell Street and about 2 blocks from one of the main shopping districts Henry St. Its about 10 minutes walk across the bridge from the south side of the city centre and places like Temple Bar, Trinity College, Dublin Castle Grafton Street etc etc
This hotel is on Dublins Main Street, O'Connell Street
https://www.wynnshotel.ie/
This hotel is a UK chain, again a central location near St Stephens Green park and Grafton St shopping district
https://www.travelodge.ie/hotels/560/Dublin-Stephens-Green-hotel
One of my friends stayed here a few years ago, its a really nice hotel and again very central
http://www.trinitycityhotel.com/
This hotel is right on the edge of the city centre, I walk past it regularly and I have been to work Christmas parties there
http://www.camdencourthotel.com/
This hotel is also just on the edge of the city centre
http://www.harcourthotel.ie/, its located right by the tram stop.
Outside City Centre
This hotel is about 20 minutes by bus from the city centre. Its a budget hotel chain
https://www.travelodge.ie/hotels/286/Dublin-City-Centre-Rathmines-hotel
In the opposite direction, this hotel
http://www.ashlinghotel.ie/ is about 15 minutes by tram from the city centre. It is right beside the main train station.
I would advise you to go to Google Maps and map out each one. Then create a spreadsheet and do dummy bookings for each one for your dates and number of people and then find which one fits your party best