It was not until he was in his 60s that John J. Cummings received public recognition as an uilleann piper. He was one of a handful of pipers active in the western United States between 1890-1920. Cummings was born in Athenry, County Galway around 1828, and learned pipe playing from his father. He spent 40 years in England working as labourer and handler of horses before relocating to San Francisco, California about 1888. In 1900 San Francisco was the largest city in the western states and had a large, well-established Irish community. In apparent retirement, Cummings played in public, mostly for dancers, and occasionally in a concert setting. Most of his gigs were sponsored by Irish societies. Local flute player George A. H. Leech thought highly of Cummings piping skills, and placed him in the same class as Patsy Touhey. One story which survives in oral tradition is that Cummings was ‘so old that his daughter would have to warm up his hands before he could play “like a house on fire.” ‘
Cummings played a remarkable set of pipes made by the Taylor brothers of Philadelphia, known today as the “Cummings set.” It is regarded as one of the finest examples of their work. He died in July 1919 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA.