Owen O'Shea sheds new light on the extraordinary grip that a few families - the Springs, the McEllistrims, the Ferrises, the Healy-Raes and others - have maintained on politics in Kerry, some of them for generations.

Heirs to the Kingdom reveals the excitement and bitterness of the inter-dynastic battles for political supremacy in the county since the foundation of the State and before, and assesses why voters in Kerry, and Ireland in general, continue to create, sustain and nurture 'family seats' on local authorities and in the Dáil.