The Dictionary of Irish Family Names by Ida Grehan (Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1997) says" CUMMINS ó Comáin ó Cuimín Commons, Comyns, Hurley This surname, which is numerous in every part of Ireland, lends itself to many interpretations. Some say that is comes from the Irish word _cam_, meaning crooked. Others, incorrectly, think it came from the word _camán_, a stick for playing hurling, which caused some people to anglicize their name to Hurley! In the sixth century, before surnames came into use, St. Common came from Ulster and founded Roscommon and a number of other monasteries in the west of Ireland. The Cummins were administrators of the church of St. Cuimón Fada of Kilcummin in the bay of Killala in Connacht. Cormac O Cuimón (1703-86) was one of a band of blind bards and story-tellers who flourished at that time. The Comyns who were driven out from County Clare escaped to France, where they were accepted into the French nobility. Here they suffered the fate of their fellow aristocrats and were guillotined during the French Revolution. Other Cummins were more fortunate and fought in the Spanish Netherlands, and were absorbed into the nobility of Spain. JOHN CUMMINS, a ship's carpenter wrote a _Narrative of the loss of HMS Wager During a Voyage to the South Seas, 1740-41. DANNY CUMMINS, a Dubliner born in 1914, was for many years one of Ireland's most popular entertainers in pantomime and revue, for which he wrote his own sketches. GERALDINE CUMMINS (1890-1969) of Cork was a novelist and biographer of the Somerville and Ross duo who originated the stories of the famous _Irish RM_ television series. She also played hockey for Ireland and was famed for her facility for "automatic writing". Her sister, Ashley, was also an international hockey player. A detailed pedigree of the County Cork family of Cummins can be found in the 1976 edition of _Burke's Irish Family Records_.