With the news that Bruce Springsteen is to play Croke Park in May, an invite has been issued to the Boss to visit Rathangan to retrace the footsteps of his great-great-granny from Mount Prospect.

Chairman of the Rathangan Community Association, Paddy O’Loughlin said the legendary rocker would be welcomed with open arms should he decide to make his way to the west Kildare town when he jets in to Dublin this summer.

“Given the recent revelations that his ancestors came from Rathangan, it would be great if he could come over and visit and have a look around. I’m sure we could give him a tour,” he said.

“If he wanted to play, there are plenty of places in Rathangan where we could host him. We have the football field, the community centre, the school gym, pubs – there are plenty of options.”

Back in October, a leading US genealogist released material confirming Springsteen’s great-great-granny, Ann Garrity, came from Mount Prospect. Megan Smolenyak found Ms Garrity was 14 years of age when she left Ireland with her two sisters in 1852 for Freehold, New Jersey. On foot of Ms Smolenyak’s research, the Kildare genealogy department at Newbridge library followed up on the research and did some more digging.