Kildare's Rathangan twins with Bruce Springsteen's hometown of Freehold
Major milestone for the two communities
Last week marked a major milestone in the development of ties between Rathangan and the hometown of Bruce Springsteen.
At the January 15 meeting of Kildare Newbridge Municipal District, councillors formally approved the twinning between Rathangan and Freehold, New Jersey.
Rathangan is the ancestral home to multiple Freehold residents, including Springsteen, whose great-great-grandmother, Ann Geraty (on his father’s side) emigrated to Freehold from Rathangan in 1853.
In March 2024, Freehold Borough formally passed a resolution formally twinning with Rathangan. This resolution was presented to the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association who were invited by Mayor Kane to Freehold for last year’s St Patricks weekend.
“The Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association is delighted with the formal approval of the twinning process by Kildare County Council and wishes to extend its thanks to the officials from Kildare County Council.
“Having the twinning formalised, will allow both towns to further deepen their cultural connections,” said a spokesperson for the association.
The Mayor of Freehold and a delegation of visitors from the town visited Kildare and Rathangan in May 2024.
On that visit Mayor Kane and Springsteen’s cousin Glenn Cashion planted a copper beech tree in Rathangan on behalf of Springsteen to commemorate the occasion.
This has significant importance, as in 1853 Ann Geraty brought a young copper beech tree from Rathangan and planted it beside Springsteen’s ancestral home in Freehold.
At his concert at Croke Park last May, Bruce gave a shout out to the Mayor of Freehold and his relatives from Rathangan and noted the two towns are going to twin together. He then dedicated the song “My Hometown” to his homies!
A group from Rathangan will visit Freehold this St Patricks weekend to continue the twinning process and any Rathangan residents who would like to get involved can contact the group @RathanganTwinning @gmail.com
Springsteen’s recent film “Road Diary” features pictures from his Rathangan visit from May 2023 showing the deep connection he has with the town.