Ancestral Kildare home of Bruce Springsteen on "Bruce watch"

Will he, or won't he? That is the question on everyone's lips in Rathangan this week. 

The Boss is back in town, but will he return to pay his ancestral home a visit? 

Bruce Springsteen is on tour in Ireland at present. His cousin and a delegation from Freehold, New Jersey will be planting a tree in Rathangan to mark the connection tomorrow, Saturday, May 17. The town is full of speculation as to whether he will drop by for the tree planting or at some other time during his stay. 

Last March, Freehold Borough formally passed a resolution to twin with Rathangan. This resolution was presented to the Rathangan Freehold Twinning Association who were invited by Mayor Kane to Freehold for St Patricks weekend.

"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," said the committee.

The Mayor of Freehold will meet with Kildare County Council officials to progress the formal twinning process and will also visit a number of sites in Kildare and Rathangan on their trip.

"It is planned to have a tree planting ceremony on Saturday afternoon May 18 at 14.30 in Rathangan, where Mayor Kane and Bruce Springsteen's cousin Glenn Cashion will plant 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's ancestral home in Freehold, New Jersey. This tree grew to be enormous and featured prominently in the life of Bruce Springsteen," added the committee.

Springsteen visited Rathangan on May 4 last year and the CPA performing arts group briefly entertained the New Jersey singer in the Rathangan Community centre. He also dropped into the Burrow pub, the Church of Ireland and visited Mount Prospect, the townland where his relatives lived.

However, that visit was kept tightly under wraps and only a handful of people knew he was coming. With his gig in Croke Park this Sunday, it is unclear if The Boss will get the chance to return to the town on this occasion.