Driving the Ring of Kerry... counter clockwise or clockwise?

There is no wrong or right answer here...

If driving clockwise, the car will be on the seaward side of the road, so your passanger will get really good coast views. The driver will probably be concentrating on the road more and on coming traffic...

Rick Steves recommends driving clockwise because being stuck behind a tour bus is annoying. I also did this on a Sun and don’t remember seeing tour buses. A co-worker drove counter clockwise and didn’t recommend it saying it was difficult passing tour busses on the narrow roads that made the drive more stressful.

I did it counter clockwise. No problem

It really doesn't matter much which direction you go anymore. Ireland spent a lot of EU infrastructure improvement money years ago to upgrade many of its road systems - one of which was the ROK. Sections that had been problematic due to tight corners and narrow passing areas, and which made meeting a tour bus head-on a true white knuckle experience, have been straightened and widened to minimize any drama now.
It's still a relatively narrow (by US standards) 2 lane road with very narrow shoulders (if any in some places) but as long as you're alert you shouldn't have any problems.

For a week in Ireland now, we’ve been on fast and slow roads - some with construction sections. It’s never failed that at some point, a car in front is going way slower than the speed limit, and a train of cars follows, unable to pass, and everybody just crawling along. I don’t know if the slowpoke in front is an American tourist, or an overly cautious local, or what. Eventually, they turn off, and traffic resumes, only to then get stuck behind a log truck, a construction truck, or a tractor. We’ve had cars pass our rental car in a blaze of speed, twice in a no-passing zone, only to tailgate the car just in front of us, or to have to stop at the road construction blockage around the curve.

We drove the Beara Peninsula ring today. Mix of fast and slow, plus bicycles that rode two abreast in the middle of the road! When there was no traffic, it was pretty empty in both directions. But only saw a couple of actual big coach buses, and this is Mid-May. Maybe summer months have lots more. The buses though, with professional drivers, are faster than the random Hyundai minivan that can’t even stay in their lane. We’re driving the Ring of Kerry next week - perhaps a totally different situation, with more traffic. But we’re going clockwise, to limit being behind buses. If there’s traffic, the buses have to wait, like everyone else. If you go counterclockwise, and buses or other vehicles are behind you, they should’ve started earlier. Go clockwise and you avoid that issue.

IMHO, the advantage of going clockwise is that you don't have to cross on-coming traffic to enter or exit the parking areas and you can access the smaller 4-5 car little parking areas and be away from the tour buses and bus occupants.