I see in another forum that your 2017 trip is BOS-DUB in the summer. Sounds lovely.
Several years ago I was struggling with high hotel rates in Dublin, and ended up booking a college dorm room at Trinity College. It was wonderfully right in the middle of town. Ramshackle like most college dorms, but worked really well for me. Breakfast was in a huge dining hall right out of Harry Potter. Access to a kitchen was handy for other meals.
The Book of Kells is right on the campus. I lucked out and managed to attend a college theater production.
A search on "trinity college summer accommodation" will turn up a bunch of links. Hard to say what is available now, but might turn up something.