I know you are talking about 'going it alone', but I can't recommend
Mick Moloney's Irish Folklore Tours highly enough. This was a small bus tour (about 20 people), and we had private concerts every night. The first part of the tour was given by an archaeologist, the second by a sociologist, and the last my Mick, a folklorist/musician. Incredible depth of information and knowledge in these people. Not cheap, but very much not toursity.