Note from Republicans 1917

"This is a note sent to my grandfather Luke Larkin of Templetuohy, Co. Tipperary, dated 14/05/1917. The local republicans had taken his ladder for some reason and now wished to let him know where he could find it. It is from a time when revolutionaries were well mannered. I have an idea who the writer might have been, perhaps a neighbour later interned during the war of Independence. The note reads: Dear Sir, Hope you are not uneasy about the ladder. Sorry we could not return it owing to the constant watch of the police. You will find ladder in Blake's moor. Many thanks. Hoping we can have it again the next time we want it. From Somebody, Sinn Fein The reverse bears a crude tricolour with the colours in the wrong order, surrounded by the words Sinn Fein and Up McGuinness. The latter presumable is a reference to Joseph McGuinness who had won the South Longford by-election for Sinn Fein only days before."