Freehold delegation visits Ireland while Springsteen playing Cork, Dublin

Bruce Springsteen isn't the only one from Freehold in Ireland this week.

A delegation of more than a dozen from the borough, including Mayor Kevin Kane, will visit the town of Rathangan, Kildare, the ancestral home of several Freehold residents, including Bruce Springsteen, as the Boss performs shows in Cork on Thursday, May 16, and Dublin on Sunday, May 19.

The Freehold delegation, there to ratify a Twin City resolution between Freehold and Rathangan, will attend the Sunday show at Croke Park in Dublin.

“Long story short, Bruce Springsteen is the connection here,” said Kane at the March 18 Freehold Borough Council Meeting, where a resolution was passed to "twin" with Rathangan. “His great-great-grandmother came from Rathangan in 1852. It's a tremendous story.”

That would be Ann Garrity from his father's side of the family. Glenn Cashion, Springsteen's cousin and Freehold native, was part of a Freehold group who welcomed a delegation from Rathangan in March.

The visitors took part in several events and marched in Freehold's St. Patrick's parade.

“The delegation from Rathangan were overjoyed with what they saw in Freehold, tracing Bruce's youthful endeavors in his various homes, and going to Asbury Park and seeing that part of the scene — as well as marching in the Freehold St. Patrick's Day parade,” said Cashion, author of “Baseball Is In My DNA: A History of Baseball in Freehold, New Jersey 1857-1973.

“I think they were overwhelmed, to tell you the truth. They were really happy with it — it was glorious.”

More: Painting of Bruce Springsteen's boyhood home presented to ancestral town in Ireland

Several members of the delegation spoke at the March 18 meeting.

“We are so grateful for the fabulous weekend,” said Sheila Knightly. “We were so well looked after — we had the best time.”

John Grimes, also from Rathangan, liked what he saw in Freehold.

“Everything that should be in place seems to be in place and everything that's not is place is getting looked after,” said Grimes to the Asbury Park Press. “It's very enlightening for me. I'm involved in local politics myself in Ireland and it's great to see the process of the meeting. We've enjoyed our stay.”

More: Obituary for Bruce Springsteen mom: Find yourself a little rock 'n' roll bar and dance

Kane, Cashion and other members of the delegation will participate in a copper beech tree planting ceremony on Saturday in Rathangan. Family lore tells of Gerrity bringing a young copper beech tree from Rathangan and planting it beside the Springsteen family home at 87 Randolph St. in Freehold.

“In our front yard, only feet from our porch, stands the grandest tree in town, a towering copper beech,” wrote Springsteen in his memoir, “Born to Run.” “On sunny days, its roots are a fort for my soldiers, a corral for my horses and my second home.”

The massive tree was taken down by the borough around 2009. The house was previously demolished to expand the St. Rose parking lot.

Springsteen, 74, made a surprise visit to the Creative Performance Academy in Kildare when the E Street Band played Ireland last May. A singing group composed of 12-year-old boys were rehearsing, and the Boss took pictures with them. He also visited the Burrow, a pub in Rathangan, where he led the ladies of the town in an a cappella version of his 1984 hit, “My Hometown.”

Springsteen paid tribute to late Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan at the E Street Band's  May 12 concert at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, Ireland. They began the show with a cover of the Pogues’ 1986 song “A Rainy Night in Soho.”

MacGowan passed away Nov. 30 at age 65 after a long illness. Springsteen visited MacGowan when he was in Ireland last May.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bruce Springsteen in Ireland: Freehold delegation visiting Rathangan