Often there is confusion concerning certain Surnames. Are they Irish or are they Scottish. Many things contribute to the confusion. Hopefully the facts here presented will clear up a bit of this confusion -- at least in reference to the Surname CUMMINGS and its various spellings.
Scotus is Latin for Irishman. (That's a good starting place for confusion.) Cumming(s), Cummins See Commons, (O) Commane, Commons O' Comain (in Munster) and O' Cuimin (in Connacht). Usually called Commons in Co. Wexford and Cummins in Co. Cork. O' Comain has become Hurley in some parts Cos. Clare and Cork, due to the mistaken belief that it derives from caman, a hurley. Woulfe says it is from cam, crooked, which is equally unacceptable.
"The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT states that the English surname Cummings was brought to Ireland by settlers but most Cummins families in Ireland are Irish stock, descend from O' Coinim or O' Comain. An O' Coimin sept in Connacht provided erenaghs for the church of St. Cuimin, Kilcummin, a parish in its homeland, the barony of Tirawley, Co. Mayo. The present distribution of the name is thinnest, however, in Connacht, and even allowing for a wide dispersal of that sept it appears more likely that the numerous Cummins families in Leinster and in Munster (where the Irish name was O' Comain) descend from one or more distinct sources of the name. There is, incidentally, a Kilcummin parish in Co. Kerry, in the barony of Magunihy, indicating a devotion to St. Cuimin in that area also and in Pubblebrien barony, Co. Limerick, there is a townland named Ballycummin.
"IRISH Family Names" by Brian de Breffny states further: Clarke An English name which usually stands for O'Clery in Ireland.Clarkson Son of Clarke O' Clery Son or descendant of Clarke.
"The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT adds this insight: Clarke: One of the twenty (20) commonest surnames in Scotland and among the thirty (30) commonest in England, Clark, spelt with and without a final e, is now among the forty (40) commonest surnames in Ireland. This is due largely to the fact that it was brought over by settlers in large numbers but also because some descendants of the Irish sept O' Cleirigh adopted Clark as a anglicization of their name rather than Cleary, see below. (A picture of Henry Clarke, Duc de Feltre, a Napoleonic hero of Irish descent.) This interchangeability of Clarke and Cleary was noted by the Registrar of Births in the last century in several districts, among them Tuam Union, Co. Galway, and Enniskillen Union, Co. Fermanagh. By far the heaviest distribution of Clarkes is in Ulster but even there families of the name will be of settler descent and also of O' Cleirigh stock as a branch of that sept settled in Co. Donegal and Co. Derry and another settled in Co. Cavan when they left their homeland in Co. Galway. Similarly, while the second heaviest distribution of Clarkes is in Leinster where settler decent is also likely, it must be noted that a branch of the O' Cleirigh sept settled in the that province too, in Co. Kilkenny.
"IRISH Family Names" by Brian de Breffny adds: Coleman See Colman, (O) Colman o' Colmain (the personal name Colman is derived colm, dove). A sept of the Ui Fiachrach. Also O' Chumhain, which as Coleman and Clifford belongs to Co. Cork. Coleman is an English name, but few Irish Colemans are of that origin. The name is now numerous in all the provinces except Ulster. The spelling Coleman is now more numerous than Colman.
More information comes from "The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT. Mac Colman A variant of MacCalmont, quite distinct from O' Colman.
Furthermore, "The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT states that Collins Though this is a well-known English name, in Ireland it is nearly always the anglicized form of O' Coileain (coilean, whelp) which is also Cullane. This sept is of Co. Limerick. Another sometimes spelt O' Cuilleain is of the Corca Laoidhe. In west Ulster Collins is Mac Coileain.
"The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT.
"IRISH Family Names" by Brian de Breffny.
(Mac) COYLE Mac Giolla Chomhgaill (devotee of St. Comgal); formerly anglicized Mac Ilhoyle, which is still extant. Coyle is also confused with MacCOOL.
"The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT; Culbert : This Ulster name is of Huguenot origin, Culbrath is an eighteenth-century variant of it in Co. Monaghan.
"The Surnames of Ireland," by MacLYSAGHT
Contributed by: Helen.
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