Cromac is from the Irish cromóg meaning 'little bend'. Marshall related the name to the banks of the crooked Owenvarra (Blackstaff), a tributary of the Lagan which is culverted in the city nowadays (Origin of Some of Belfast's Street Names, p. 9). However, it seems more likely that it refers to a bend or bends in the River Lagan itself and the spit of land on the west bank (Co. Antrim side) hemmed in by the river. Deirdre Uí Fhlannagáin suggested it was the pronounced bend roughly where the Albert Bridge stands today, or possibly the stretch of river from here back to the Ormeau Bridge (Béal Feirste agus áitainmneacha laistigh, 1982). It appears twice on James Williamson's 1791 map of Belfast: Cromack Dock is on the north bank of the Blackstaff where it enters the Lagan, while Cromack Wood is immediately south of the Blackstaff. Ballicromoge was a townland name in the 17th century but the area is now shared between Town Parks and Malone Lower.
"[Cromac] was noted for its woods, which were not cleared till the latter half of the 18th century. One of the chief enemies of the Plantation settlers was the wolves. These dangerous animals had enormously increased during the war (1593-1603), and Cromac woods must have been one of their haunts, to the detriment and annoyance of Sir Arthur Chichester's newly-settled town of Belfast. Wolfhill, on the opposite side of the city, preserved their memory, and is traditionally one of the places where the last wolf in Ireland is said to have been killed. Lendrick's map of Co Antrim, 1760, shows Cromac along the Lagan, between the Blackstaff and Stranmillis. It was earlier known as Ballycromoke" (John J Marshall, Belfast Telegraph, 06/01/1941).
Town plans of the late 18th century marked 'The Mall', a promenade which began roughly where the south end of Cromac Street is today, and led north-west to the White Linen Hall. This does not correspond to the line of any modern road. 'The Mall Fields' stretched south-west of this road roughly to the modern site of Great Victoria Street Station.
View of Belfast from Cromack Water Mill, 1805, NMNI Collections