Popular headmaster fondly remembered by community 50 years on from IRA killing
ON APRIL 10, 1974, the lives of the 35 children who attended the Earl of Erne Primary School in Teemore changed forever when on his morning coffee break, their headmaster, Lt. Col. George Saunderson, was killed by the IRA when he was shot at point-blank range in the school kitchen in front of kitchen staff.
Known affectionately by many in the community as ‘The Master’, or to friends as ‘Sandy’, Lt. Col. Saunderson was a popular figure in the local community.
His legacy was remembered on the Saturday evening of April 6 when an evening of reflection was held in Teemore Church Hall.
The event was attended by 400 people, including the Lt. Col. Saunderson family, former colleagues from the school, and the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), as well as the wider community who were left shell-shocked after the events of five decades ago.
The evening was hosted by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), and as part of the evening, community contributions were heard as those who knew Lt. Col. Saunderson remembered him fondly.
Some of his poetry was read by his grandchildren, and Teemore Accordion Band played music. A 45-minute video remembering Lt. Col. Saunderson was also played.
The video featured news archives from the time of his killing, an interview with Lt. Col. Saunderson at a community event, as well as personal reflections from the Teemore community.
Clips also featured tributes from two of his children, Johnny and Jim.
In the video, Johnny recalled that his father was: “A man amongst men. He was one of those people who when you walked into a room, you noticed that.”
Wiping a tear from his eye, he continued: “He was a special man among his friends; he was the guy they looked up to. He was one of these guys that you wanted to be like him.”
Later, his brother, Jim, recalled overhearing the attack on his father, and how the staff from the kitchen ran to their home nearby.
He said: “I was standing talking to my brother, Bill, and the girls from the kitchen came up, shouting: ‘The Master was shot, The Master was shot’.”
Moving contributions came from those who worked alongside Lt. Col. Saunderson and were witnesses to his killing.
Edie Graham, who worked as a cook in the Earl of Erne School, remembered the events vividly.
She said: “The day of the shooting, The Master walked into the kitchen, asked where his own boys were, had his cup of coffee, and I was at the back door, cleaning up.
“A car came around the corner, and he asked who owned it.
“I was at the door, and this boy jumped out with a gun in his hand, and told me to stand there, and went in shouting, ‘What’s your name, what’s your name?’ The Master said he was Saunderson.”
She and others then described in detail how the gunmen then shot their friend and colleague in the kitchen of the school, a short distance away from the children.
Remembering the sobering impact it had, she said: “[Afterwards] I went up to the classroom to see what the children were doing, and they were all sitting very quietly.
“It was like a bolt out of the blue. I never, never thought it would happen in the school, not with children and all in the school.”
Dolly Brown, who also worked in the school, added: “We thought we would be shot too.”
Jimmy Egerton remembered how when Lt. Col. Saunderson would leave the classroom to bring the dinner order to the kitchen, there would be fun in the classroom, typical of children when a teacher leaves the room, and he recalled that it was in that lull when the shooting occurred.
Deeply respected
Other former pupils and people from the Teemore community paid tribute to Lt. Col. Saunderson, recalling him as a man whom they all deeply respected, and how he “was a very big influence in all our lives – he nurtured everyone, to take the best out of them”.
Outside of his education career, David Montgomery paid tribute to Lt. Col. Saunderson in the video, in respect of his UDR service.
In the video, Jim Saunderson – who now lives in Canada, but travelled back to Teemore for events – said: “We are all gone from Ireland, our family.
“I have no regrets going to Canada, [but] my heart is in Ireland.
“Fermanagh is the most beautiful part of the world; I would never have gone to Canada to live if it hadn’t have been for what happened.”
The video concluded with footage from the ‘Schools on the Frontline’ documentary aired by the BBC in 2019, and shows Johnny Saunderson walking around his former school.
Recalling his father in it, he said: “I know every brick of it almost; all the rhododendrons here were planted by him. I can feel him here.”
The documentary shows him shedding a tear as he stands in the former kitchen of the school, before he crouches down and touches the spot where his father was “gunned down”, and cries.
Later, in quiet remembrance, he adds a rhododendron to the spot where his father lay dying, surrounded by blood and bullets.
He said: “It never occurred to me that this would happen, and then it happens.”
On Sunday, April 7, a service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving remembering Lt. Col. George Saunderson was held at Inishmacsaint Parish Church, followed by an Act of Remembrance at his grave at the Old Derrygonnelly Graveyard, followed by refreshments in Derrygonnelly Orange Hall.
Kenny Donaldson, Director, SEFF, said: “This was a weekend when the community came together to fittingly remember someone who meant so much to so many people.
“Well over 400 people attended the community reflections event held in Teemore Parish Hall and the service in Inishmacsaint Parish.
“We pray that the events of the weekend will offer some comfort and recognition to the family and our thoughts are also with other siblings unable to be in Fermanagh for these Remembrance events.
“The terrorists targeted Sandy because of his leadership role within the local community.
“It was not a random killing – it was a targeted and strategic assassination motivated by sectarian and ethnic hatred,” added Mr. Donaldson.