'Chief' O'Neill wrote of a Patrick Cummins from near Bree, Co Wexford who "lost his left hand by a mishap while engaged in blasting a rock, but the genius of music was so strong that by reversing the strings and making some small structural alterations in his fiddle, he nullified the effect of his misfortune. An appliance of his own invention by which the bow could be attached to his left wrist enabled him to acquire a wonderful degree of proficiency and maintain his enviable reputation as a musician, although by no means a young man when the accident occurred."

From the context of O'Neill's discussion, I'd guess the time period would have been the 1870 or '80s. Yeppers, us Cummins are more than a nameplate on a diesel.

Happy New Year,

Danny Cummins