How many locations do you want? You could pick three or four and spend a week in each, or you could just pick two and spend a couple of weeks. Do you want to go to Northern Ireland at all? I know you say small towns, but I think Dublin deserves at least a few days. Galway was my favourite area, the Cliffs of Moher, Burren, Connemara, Aran Islands. Somewhere near Killarney for the park, lake, Gap of Dunloe, Muckross, Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry. Another area might include Kilkenny, Glendalough, Rock of Cashel, Kinsale. Some of the small towns may run out of things to do in a couple of days so it might be better to be near a larger town in order to find evening entertainment. Places like Galway and Killarney really aren't all that large, and if you stay on the outskirts it will seem like a small town, but they will offer more activities in the evening. I guess it will come down to how much driving you want to do during the day to get to places you want to see. I'm sure others here will have different advice, but I would start with Galway and Killarney and go from there. Both were good for music, and both have a good variety of activities in the area. But, there are so many nice places in Ireland I don't think you can go wrong no matter where you go.
