FREEHOLD, NJ - Bruce Springsteen’s performance of “My Hometown” held special meaning for at least one audience member in Croke Park in May 2024.
Singing every word from the standing room only section was Kevin Kane, Mayor of Freehold Borough, New Jersey, the literal hometown of The Boss.
Springsteen even took the time to acknowledge Kane in the audience, something that almost left the usually loquacious small-town mayor speechless. Mr Paddy Curran, Cathaoirleach of Kildare County Council Newbridge Municipal District presented the Mayor of Freehold Mr Kevin Kane, a St Bridget’s cross in May 2024 in the Kildare County Council Chambers.
“Like most proud Irish Americans I am not shy to say that I have been granted the gift of gab, and have even kissed the Blarney Stone” Kane told the Irish Echo. “But to have Bruce namecheck me in front of 80,000 of his most ardent fans definitely took my breath away!”
Springsteen has long acknowledged his love of Ireland, something that came up throughout his 2024 tour in Ireland that also took him to Belfast, Cork, and Kilkenny. This kinship with the Emerald Isle is not just based on the love he gets at every sold out show he performs, but also from his own familial ties.
Springsteen’s great-great-grandmother, Ann Geraty (on his father's side) went to Freehold, New Jersey from Rathangan, Co. Kildare in 1853.
Rathangan Village, Co Kildare, Ireland 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/wJaAIa2OqK
— Sarah Anne Heffernan (@heffernan_sarah) October 12, 2023
To celebrate that link, Kane and his counterparts on the Newbridge Municipal County Council are growing their relationship, starting with the official twinning of the two communities.
Kane and a delegation from Freehold Borough visited the town of Kildare and nearby Rathangan in the days leading up the Springsteen concert, which led not only to the furtherance of the special relationship, but also the planting of a Copper Beech tree on behalf of Bruce Springsteen to commemorate the occasion.
Thank you, Freehold! Bruce and @thomzimny surprised fans at a @fathomevents screening of #westernstarsmovie last night in New Jersey. Read more: https://t.co/iU46tA1QNs pic.twitter.com/gdkLgduKtD
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) October 20, 2019
This tree has special meaning, Glenn Cashen, Springsteen’s cousin and also a resident of Freehold Borough explained, as in 1853 Geraty brought a young copper beech tree from Rathangan and planted this tree beside Bruce Springsteen’s ancestral home on the US side of the Atlantic.
The twinning of the two communities will be more than symbolic, Kane promised, sharing that a group from Rathangan will visit New Jersey in March and participate in the Freehold Borough St. Patrick’ Day Parade which is set for Sunday, March 16.
“New Jersey and Ireland, and, more importantly, those that call these two wonderful places ‘home,’ have a lot more in common than most people might realize,” Kane said. “We are as proud of our connection to Rathangan as we are of our connection to Bruce Springsteen, and we are going to celebrate that as much as we can.”
Today in NJ history;
— Joe Bilby (@JoeBilby1) September 23, 2021
September 23,1949: New Jersey rock-and-roll musician Bruce Springsteen born in Long Branch. He was raised in Freehold & broke into the big time with his album “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” in 1973. No one is more associated with NJ through his lyrics. pic.twitter.com/Tako0paxft
“Freehold Borough’s vibrant small business community will be awash in green for the St. Patrick’s Day parade,” Councilman Jeff Friedman, who also serves as the Executive Director of Downtown Freehold and president of the Freehold Borough Arts Council, said. “We look forward to welcoming visitors from across the area, and our special guests from Rathangan. On March 16 we will all be a little bit Irish!”
