Cuimín of Clonfert

Saint Cuimín (Cummin, Cumain Foda) is an Irish saint linked with the parish of Kilcummin (Cill Chuimín, "the church of Cuimín"), in the barony of Tirawley, County Mayo. At Kilcummin, on a headland west of Killala Bay, the remains of a religious site are kept, with an early church and a graveyard. In tradition he is also called Cuimín of Clonfert; our sources, however, do not agree on whether he is the same as the saint of that name at Clonfert.

A genealogical text of Dubhaltach Mac Fhir Bhisigh (died 1671) calls him Cumain Foda and shows him of the line of Conaing, son of Fergus. His life in medieval times is not known, but his veneration in more recent times is well attested: a holy well at Kilcummin was believed to have healing powers, and the patron day was held on the last Sunday of July, called Domhnach Chrom Dubh or "Garland Sunday". Healing powers were also ascribed to earth from the grave. A flagstone at the grave, Leac Cuimín, was used as a "cursing stone", a practice that ended in the first half of the 19th century.

A Russian source speaks of Cummian Fota (born around 590, died around 665) as abbot of Kilcummin, son of King Fiachna of West Munster, who became a monk and was placed in the school of the monastery of Clonfert. He is said to have studied Roman liturgical practice, against the Celtic customs of the monastery of Iona; his Paschal letter and his hymns survive. His feast day would be 12 November.