How BRUCE is still BOSSING Ireland
He may be Born In The USA but Springsteen has never forgotten his roots and pays tribute to them as often as he can
BRUCE Springsteen is back — again. It’s just 12 months since the 74year-old rocker and his E Street band last thrilled Irish fans with their legendary lengthy sets, but already they’ve played Belfast, kicking off their latest world tour on Thursday night.
Tomorrow it’s Kilkenny, followed by a gig in Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Thursday. Then the culmination of his Irish visit, a return to Dublin’s Croke Park next Sunday.
Tickets aren’t cheap, ranging from just under €140 for Kilkenny and Cork, while it’ll set you back over €160 for a seat in Dublin. But those who appreciate his brand of rock n’roll believe they’re worth every red cent.
He’s often claimed that Irish fans are among the most passionate he comes across while out on the road, and that he feels a deep kinship to the country where several of his ancestors emigrated from.
In fairness to The Boss, his connection to the oul sod is a lot less tenuous that many others who have come in search of their Irish roots. Here we have a look at Springsteen’s history with a country that just can’t seem to get enough of him.
ANCESTRAL AGITATORS
SPRINGSTEEN made his name writing anthems for the blue-collar, working classes, highlighting the daily struggles and injustices they face. So perhaps it’s not surprising that some of his Irish ancestors were also ticked off at the inequalities they witnessed and endured here in Ireland.
Genealogy sleuths believe his greatgreat-great-grandfather Christy Gerrity, from Rathangan in Co Kildare was something of an agitator. Records show that in 1823 he was arrested and imprisoned under the Insurrection Act, which targeted those protesting the excessive rent payments charged by unscrupulous landlords and the subsequent evictions.
By 1827, Gerrity — now working in the transportation of goods and live- stock — had married Catherine Kelly. They lived in a mud cabin in Mount Prospect with their eight kids. But in 1849, as the famine raged around them, Christy and several of his sons were forced to make their way to America via Canada.
The rest of the family, including Christy’s eldest daughter and Springsteen’s great-great-granny Ann, followed them over in 1853 and the entire lot settled down in New Jersey, which is where Springsteen was born 74 years ago.
KILTIMAGH KIN
THE genealogy obsession with Springsteen doesn’t end in Kildare. A couple of years after Christy took the boat across the Atlantic, shipping records show that Richard McNicholas, a 20-year-old labourer, sailed from Liverpool on February 1, 1851, and landed six weeks later in Baltimore in the US, on St Patrick’s Day.
Richard, who was Springsteen’s great-great-grandfather, hailed from Kiltimagh in Co Mayo. It’s thought the family lived in the townland of
Treenagleragh, on Sliabh Cairn near the village. In the winter of 1848, three McNicholas families were among the 145 people evicted from their homes by Lord Lucan.
Although there’s no proof that Richard was one of the evicted, the timing of his departure to the US makes it highly likely.
He settled in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and his son John McNicholas married Jennie Farrell, a daughter of Ann Gerrity, who emigrated from Kildare. Jennie was mother to Alice McNicholas, who married Fred Springsteen, and their son Douglas is Springsteen’s dad.
Alice helped raise Springsteen in the town of Freehold, New Jersey and he called her his ‘Irish granny’.
A LATE LATE SHOW STALWART
A FREQUENT visitor to Ireland since that first victorious gig, it’s only natural that Springsteen turned up on The Late Late Show. In 2016, he sat down to talk to Ryan Tubridy about his Irish upbringing, being treated for depression and having ‘half of a nervous breakdown’ during the interval of the Slane concert.
Four years later, during the pandemic, he did another interview with Tubs, and he told how he was ‘raised by the Irish side of my family, and they were pretty old school. The McNicholas and the O’Haras. They were on my father’s side.’
He revealed how after a close friend died, he began to ‘meditate’ on death, and a lot of the songs on his new album were inspired by his background.
‘When I was very young... there were a lot of big wakes,’ he said. ‘You got used to going to these wakes and the body would be there and everybody would sort of be drinking and conversing with the body in the centre of the room.’
From Kiltimagh to Kildare, Bruce has Irish blood
HORSING AROUND
WITH such strong Irish roots, perhaps it’s not surprising that one of Springsteen’s
kids developed a passion for horses. His daughter Jessica was a champion showjumper, riding for Team USA on several occasions. Back in 2014, she made her debut at the RDS for the Dublin Horse Show. ‘I came here to watch seven years ago and my dad did a concert here two years ago,’ she told reporters. ‘But to be competing here is a huge moment in my career.’
Both her parents, Bruce and wife Patti Scialfa, were there to watch. However, things didn’t go Jessica’s way that day and she was eventually placed 26th in the competition.
Two years later, however, things went better for the equestrian star, when she returned to the RDS to compete for the USA showjumping team once again. Her dad was there to watch and this time she got a third place finish in the Serpentine Speed Stakes and second place in the Anglesea Stakes.
MUTUAL LOVE AFFAIR
HE never fails to find an adoring audience in Ireland, and he knows just what to say to keep them sweet. Back in May 2016, when he played Croke Park, he announced to screaming fans, ‘Dublin, I’ve got a crush on you!’
Since first playing Slane 39 years ago, he’s come back for some seriously memorable gigs, including the RDS in 1988, 1993 and 2003, The King’s Hall and The Point in 1996. Then there were the five concerts in 2013, when he played Thomond Park in Limerick, Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Belfast
and two sell-out shows at Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. He’s included Ireland, which he’s previously called his ‘adopted home’, in 13 world tours and never fails to come here when he plays Europe. It’s been an enduring love affair, bolstered by the fact he often sticks around for a bit after a gig. While other big names often flee as soon as they can, on to the next city on their tour list, Springsteen has made it his business to get to know the land of his forefathers — an effort and appreciation that has won him the love and respect of a legion of devoted fans.
LOCAL HAUNTS
HE’S PLAYED in Ireland over 30 times, often staying for more than a week, so it makes sense Springsteen has his favourite places to eat and drink.
He rarely misses a chance to sample the fish and chips at Leo Burdocks at Dublin’s Christhurch or to drop into either The Long Hall on South George’s Street or O’Donoghue’s on Baggot Street for a couple of whiskeys, Irish of course. Last year he rocked up to Victorian hotspot The Long Hall one afternoon, where he surprised a Welsh tourist by pulling up a stool next to his and staying for at least a couple of drinks.
When he and the E Street Band don’t have the time, nor inclination, to make it out of their hotel rooms, they’ve been known to order in from the historic takeaway Burdocks. Naturally they’ve managed to photograph him on a couple of occasions to add their gallery of famous customers.