At a recent meeting of Newbridge Municipal District County Councillors approved the formal twinning between Rathangan and Freehold, New Jersey. 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. In March 24, Freehold Borough formally passed a resolution formally Twinning with Rathangan, Co Kildare. This resolution was presented to the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association who were invited by Mayor Kane to Freehold for St Patricks weekend.

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 between Freehold, New Jersey and Rathangan, the ancestral home of Bruce Springsteen. On that visit Mayor Kane and Bruce Springsteen’s cousin Glenn Cashion planted a copper beech tree on behalf of Bruce Springsteen to commemorate the occasion. This has significant importance for Bruce Springsteen, as in 1853 Ann Geraty brought a young copper beech tree from Rathangan and planted this tree beside Bruce Springsteen ancestral home in Freehold, New Jersey.

At the Bruce Springsteen concert at Croke Park in May 24, 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 association are 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. A group from Rathangan will visit Freehold, New Jersey this St Patricks weekend to further developed the twinning process and any Rathangan residents who would like to get involved with this association can contact the group @ RathanganTwinning@gmail.com

Bruce Springsteen’s most recent film “Road Diary” was released on Disney+ in October 2024. At the end of the movie, a number of pictures from Bruce’s visit to Rathangan, featured prominently. This shows the deep connection that Bruce has with Rathangan and how significant those connections are to him and his family. End of