The letter is from Fred Allan (1861-1937), a member of the Irish National Aid Association and Volunteer Dependents’ Fund. The letter refers to a poem by republican Maire Comerford (1893-1982) that poet Alice Furlong (1871-1946) had agreed to edit. The poem would be printed and sold to raise funds and Allan asks for 500 copies. He also refers to music that was to printed in pamphlet form for the same reason.The fund was the result of a merger between the Irish National Aid Association and the Irish Volunteers Dependents’ Fund, both of which were founded after the Rising to provide relief to the dependents of those who were executed, killed in the fighting or had lost their employment. Frederick James Allen was an Irish Nationalist and republican. During the Parnell era, Allan was one of the most influential and powerful men in the IRB. He later resigned from the organisation in 1912. Allan opposed the 1916 Rising, viewing it as a futile gesture, yet he would go on to be heavily involved in the politics of the Irish War of Independence.