Twinning charter to be signed between Bruce Springsteen's Freehold and ancestral Kildare home
All roads lead to Rathangan next Friday
The Rathangan-Freehold twinning agreement is to be officially ratified at the west Kildare village next Friday evening, June 27.
Rathangan is the ancestral home to multiple Freehold residents, including Bruce Springsteen, whose great-great-grandmother, Ann Geraty (on his father's side), went to Freehold, New Jersey from Rathangan in 1853.
The Mayor of Freehold, Kevin Kane, will return next weekend to Rathangan for the formal twinning charter to be signed between Freehold and Rathangan.
Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer, Mayor of the Kildare Newbridge Municipal District, will sign the twinning charter on behalf of Kildare County Council. A plaque commemorating the copper beech tree planting from May 2024 will also be unveiled by Mayor Kane on the day.
Chairman of the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association, Mark Stafford, commented, "This is a great day for Rathangan and brings together all the hard work of the Twinning Association over the last three years."
Mark extended his thanks to his fellow committee members, the officials in Kildare County Council, and all the local community who supported the initiative. He noted that having the twinning formalised will allow both towns to further deepen their cultural connections.
In March 2024, Freehold Borough formally passed a resolution twinning with Rathangan. This resolution was presented to the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association who were invited by Mayor Kane to Freehold for St. Patrick’s weekend.
Paddy Curran, Cathaoirleach of Kildare County Council Newbridge Municipal District, presented the Mayor of Freehold, Kevin Kane, a St. Bridget’s Cross in May 2024 in the Kildare County Council Chambers.
The Mayor of Freehold, New Jersey and a delegation of visitors from Freehold, New Jersey visited Kildare and Rathangan in May 2024 to progress the twinning process. On that visit, Mayor Kane and Bruce Springsteen’s cousin, Glenn Cashion, planted a copper beech tree on the green at the top of the town on behalf of Bruce Springsteen to commemorate the occasion.
This has significant importance for Bruce Springsteen. In 1853 Ann Geraty brought a young copper beech tree from Rathangan and planted it beside Bruce Springsteen’s ancestral home in Freehold, New Jersey.
At the Bruce Springsteen concert at Croke Park in May 2024, Bruce gave a shout-out to the Mayor of Freehold and his relatives from Rathangan and noted that the two towns are going to twin together. He then dedicated the song My Hometown to his homies!
The Rathangan–Freehold twinning was formally approved by Kildare County Council in January 2025. Since then, a delegation from the Rathangan Twinning Association participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Freehold in March 2025.