placenamesCroom
Cromadh
A surviving institutional complex and weekly minute books document poor relief in the Croom district.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Cromadh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Croom · English · main form
Place & story
A new poor-law union
Limerick Archives dates the creation of Croom Poor Law Union to March 1850. It brought together electoral divisions previously administered by Rathkeale, Newcastle West and Limerick unions, sometimes dividing those existing units. The archive's historical note records the building of the new workhouse in 1852, establishing a local centre for the enlarged district's poor relief. [2]
Buildings adapted for hospital care
The former workhouse complex survives in later hospital use. The architectural inventory records a long two-storey main building, a separate three-storey block and several ancillary buildings. Limestone entrance piers, a carriage arch and stone details remain among later extensions. The group includes the former fever hospital and a chapel associated with its subsequent medical role. [3]
Weekly accounts of the institution
The guardians' minute books cover 1852–1922. They record official correspondence, payments and decisions alongside weekly totals of admissions, deaths and discharges. From August 1868 another table tracked accommodation and the numbers of residents in different categories, including children and hospital patients. These administrative records preserve the changing scale of the institution's work. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Croom. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Croom Union Board of Guardian Minute Books1852–1922, IE LA BG71 · Limerick Archives
- Croom Union Workhouse, NIAH21828026 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.