A history of people, places and houses
author 
As one of the earliest recorded houses in Killiney from available mapping we have been able to trace the development of Desmond over the years. The first map showing the house is dated 1837 and shows a simple rectangular shaped dwelling with a projecting central bay to the rear of the main house facing the stable yard.
The most successful architecturally is Francis Robinson’s Undercliffe, undoubtedly Woodward’s work and the apparent prototype from which the others were derived. The lease of Undercliffe was the first to be registered, on 13 February 1861, and it seems likely that it was also the first house to be started.
The elevations and chimneys have a liberal sprinkling of Jacobethan ornament. The porch is probably original, though it looks like an addition. The kitchen and servants’ quarters are separately articulated under a straightforward, and relatively low, hipped roof,
The only reference to Deane and Woodward’s domestic works to be published in the columns of The Dublin Builder appeared in the issue of 15 February 1861. In a piece on house building in Ballybrack, County Dublin, the writer referred in passing to six new dwelling houses being built to their designs, including one for Joseph Robinson, ‘the eminent opera singer’.
The recollections of Arthur Haughton who was born in 1903 and who lived in the area for all of his life is a fascinating record of many aspects of daily life and local history which would otherwise be lost forever.
Joseph Robinson’s Green Hill is a cross between Undercliffe and Fernside in that it has a turret and a projecting bow. The turret is placed in the angle of the drawing-room wall. One of the chimneystacks is placed at a 45 degree angle as at St Austin’s Abbey, while the entrance has a Gothic arch
Robert Exham’s own Fernside was not begun until early in 1861. The Dublin Builder article indicated that the foundations had been laid out by 15 February. However, arrangements were clearly being made before Woodward’s final departure for the continent in mid-December 1860.
In 1896 a petition from the workingmen of Killiney village was submitted to The Right Honourable John Morley of Mount Eagle, Killiney requesting him to use his influence with the Government to bring about the release of Francis Edward DuBédat from prison.
The destruction of the Ballybrack Barrack was carried out in a cool and daring manner. Over a year ago the police were withdrawn from the barrack and transferred to Cabinteely but Mrs Hurst, the wife of Sergeant Hurst, and four of her family resided in the house.