Suggestions for Ireland visit

I would probably choose Cork city, or maybe Dingle or Kenmare (both much smaller places).

But I think it might make most sense for you to identify the ideal day-trip destinations and then see which cities make sense as bases? It may be possible to reduce the number of places you're staying to two or three, which would be less hassle for you.

Of the places you've listed I would say an ideal taster of Ireland would be from Dublin, Waterford, Killarney or Tralee and Galway. Considering you have a car you can do a lot of exploring from these places. Galway will be a good base to see the town itself, Connemara and possibly the Burren. Waterford will be a bit quieter but the coastline is beautiful. There's no place in Ireland that comes close to resembling Dublin, so I definitely would spend at least a day looking around. I hear Kerry is very worth it, so i'd say anywhere near the coast will pay off.

Instead of doing city stops, stay in nearby smaller towns - much nicer. Instead of Galway city, try Clifden or Lindoosvarna. Instead of Cork, Kinsale. All these places have great dining options and nice places to stay.

I think your plan of day trips from base locations is excellent. The areas you choose are dependent on what it is you want to see. In general, the countryside and people of Ireland are what most people find the best, so it makes sense to have 1-2 bases in smaller towns. If you don't mind it's being a tourist haven, Killarney is a good base. Dingle and Kinsale are others. My personal favorite area is the west, and while Galway is a great city, you could stay at Clifden, Cong, Ballyvaugan, or many other smaller towns and visit Galway city from there. The Burren, Aran Islands, and all the Connemara area are beautiful.

Hey, Ya to agree with others above, you'd be better off not staying in the cities as such but outside them in smaller towns. I'd stick to the south and west coast to be honest. West Cork, Kerry, Clare and Galway are all great and it makes sense to drive from one to the other. In Kerry I'd recommend staying in some place like Tralee or Killarney so that you have easy access to either the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle penninsula. In Cork, you could stay in say Clonakilty which isn't too far from Cork and you can also drive to places like Skibberean and the Beara penninsula from there. Galway city is a great place too and if you want to stay in a city then that's the one I'd recommend. The term "city" though is loosely applied as its more like a town really as are most cities in Ireland with the exception of Dublin.