It’s been a cruel summer for Kerry people, who have had to affix fake smiles and pretend to be thrilled as Mayo’s historic All-Ireland victory over the green and gold went viral around the world. But now they have their revenge with The Healy-Raes: Blood, Sweat & Tears (RTÉ One, Wednesday, 9.35pm) – an epic profile of the Kilgarvan political dynasty whose rise has delighted their constituents, while by turns baffling and enraging much of the rest of the county.This is a riveting portrait of a singular force in Irish politics that makes it plain that, far from their caricature as old-fashioned yokels, the Healy-Raes are in fact something entirely new – and that their image as smashing bumpkins is one they themselves have cultivated.If you believe politics should be a noble calling, then this is going to make your blood pressure soar. Brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae make no apology for putting their constituents first – whether by helping to restore a parking spot outside a shop or sending visually impaired voters to the North for cataract surgery.But they are not back room hustlers in the traditional sense. As political guru and former minister Ivan Yates points out, neither brother has had much success (or even any interest) in building alliances in the Dáil. An appearance by the former taoiseach Bertie Ahern – the consummate wheeler-dealer – is a reminder that the Healy-Raes are not out-of-sight operators in the Bertie vein so much as Trumpian trumpeters, who play to their base and are upfront about their desire to make Kilgarvan great again.Their story is certainly extraordinary. Their father, the late TD Jackie Healy-Rae, met their American mother when he gave her a lift to Muckross House in Killarney. The marriage would eventually disintegrate, making Danny and Michael those rare Irish children brought up by separated parents in 1970s Ireland.Then there is the fact that this might have been an American as much as an Irish saga. As a child, Michael was offered the chance to move to New York and be raised by a family friend, but chose to stay in Kerry. Where would he be now had he gone to the United States – might he have thrived in a political arena even more hardball than Ireland’s?Blood, Sweat & Tears was filmed between 2024 and 2026. It turned out to be a season of high drama for the brothers. Elected by a landslide, they joined the Government – only for Danny, who at 72 is Michael’s senior by 12 years, to break with the Cabinet and his own brother when Danny criticised Micheál Martin’s handling of the fuel protests. Those comments led Michael to quit his Minister of State position. Here, he clashes with director Jerry Kennelly when asked why he gave different accounts for his decision when speaking in the Dáil and then on Radio Kerry.[ Who are the Healy-Raes? A guide to Ireland’s biggest political dynastyOpens in new window ]His falling out with Danny adds familial tension to a film that already feels like a soap opera moulded out of muck and cunning. The lasting impression is of politicians who are perfectly aware of the divisive figures they cut – but who understand too that the more loathed you are in Dublin, the more beloved you become in Kerry.This will reinforce the idea that nothing on this earth is more parochial than Irish politics. It is also the case that many viewers will have their belief that the Healy-Raes are a joke confirmed. Either way, the only ones laughing are the brothers and their supporters.