It will come as a surprise to many people to learn that this name, usually written Gromwell, was well known in Ireland more than two centuries before Oliver Cromwell left his permanent mark on this country. No less than six Gromwells were mayors or bailiffs (i.e. sherriffs) of Limerick between 1426 and 1598. They were of an old Anglo-Irish family whose name, it is usually stated, was taken from a place in Nottinghamshire. Reaney equates Grumell not with Cromwell but with another English surname viz. Grimble or Gribble, which, it is accepted, derives from the forename Grimbald; but the fact that de Cromyll appears in Limerick as early as 1307 would seem to corroborate its locative origin. If we consider modern synonyms we find that Cromwell, Crummell and Grummell have all been officially reported as such, the last named in Co. Kerry. In the birth registrations of the 1860's Grummell appears in Co. Kerry but Cromwell and Crumwell in counties Armagh and Down. In this connexion it may be mentioned that the P011Money Commissioners for Co. Down in 1661 included two Cromwells (one named Oliver) among the local gentry who were appointed in this capacity. In that year also the will of Lord Cromwell of Ardglass was proved. The name has now become very rare in Ireland.

While it is only of academic interest the fact that in the sixteenth century the Gaelic-Irish surname MacGillegromell was found in Co. Antrim: this could of course, have been abbreviated later to Gromell but there is no evidence that the Cromwells of Ulster were of that stock.

*This attainder was reversed in 1693 so I presume the Henry Crofton who attained the rank of major-general in the service of Philip V of Spain and distinguished himself in the war of the Spanish succession was his cousin.

This name in either variant is now very rare in Ireland; it was prominent in the City of Limerick for two centuries before the time of Oliver Cromwell. SIF 44