Kildare delegation off to Springsteen’s hometown for Patrick’s Day
Bruce Springsteen on his trip to his ancestral home of Rathangan
The twinning of Rathangan and Bruce Springsteen’s hometown Freehold Borough in New Jersey that was made official in January, continues its legacy with members from the Rathangan Twinning Group set to visit Freehold on Paddy’s weekend.
The relationship between the two towns started in 2022, following the discovery of Springsteen’s familial link to Ireland.
Since then, the two communities have kept close contact and have been planning trips between Ireland and the US, organised between the Rathangan group and Freehold’s Mayor Kevin Kane.
Springsteen’s connection to Rathangan was found after some genealogy work with Kildare County Council revealed his family, the Geraty’s, came from Rathangan, and emigrated to America in 1853 while Ireland was experiencing ‘An Gorta Mór’ otherwise known as ‘The Famine’.
Very in touch with his Irish connection, a relationship between Springsteen’s hometown of Freehold Borough and the home of his ancestors in Rathangan was forged, leading to the twinning of the two.
In May 2024, Mayor Kane and Springsteen’s cousin Glen Cashion travelled to Rathangan and planted a Copper Beech Tree in Rathangan to commemorate the Copper Beech Tree that Springsteen’s great-great grandmother, Ann Geraty, brought from Kildare to plant in New Jersey all those years ago.
The Rathangan Twinning Association are very excited to continue strengthening the bond between the two communities, and are particularly excited about the upcoming Patrick’s Day event in New Jersey.
A spokesperson from the Rathangan group told Kildare Nationalist about the plans for the group’s trip to New Jersey this March, and said:
“Freehold has an annual Patrick’s parade. A group from Rathangan twinning will travel over, and so will army veterans, and will be participating in the parade.”
Many more plans are in the works for the twinning group, the Rathangan group hopes that the link between the two places will establish benefits in future Springsteen-related tourism to Rathangan, for sporting, and other possible cultural ideas in the pipeline.
The Rathangan side have great time for their friends in Freehold, and said:
“They’re a lovely bunch of people, and they’re very proud of their Irish Heritage.”
The Rathangan group is hopeful that the twinning of the towns will “put Rathangan on the map” with lots of tourism benefits for the town and the County of Kildare in general.
