ConnexionHow many times has anti-LGBTQ+ activist Enoch Burke been jailed? Here’s a full timeline
Enoch Burke has once again been jailed after once again refusing to follow a court order by once again lingering around the entrance of the secondary school he was fired from.
The fired school teacher and staunch evangelist was sent back to Mountjoy Jail this week for yet again ignoring the High Court’s instructions to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, Ireland.
Dubbed by a court judge as a “baleful and malign presence”, Mr Burke is believed to have spent a combined 550 days, including two Christmases, in jail, as well as a combined €225,000 (£198,118) in fines.
He continues to insist that the arrests are over his views on what he describes as “transgenderism”, despite High Court Justice Brian Cregan frequently reminding him that it is over his refusal to abide by the court’s instructions.
So how many times has Enoch Burke been arrested since he was fired from his teaching position in 2022? Here is a full timeline.
June 2022: Enoch Burke’s confrontation with head teacher
In August 2022, Enoch Burke was suspended from his teaching position at Wilson’s Hospital School following a June confrontation with the school’s head teacher over a transgender student’s pronouns.
During a Church service at the boarding school, senior staff announced that the student had begun using they/them pronouns, asking participants to respect the student’s identity.
According to the Irish Independent, Mr Burke, a member of the infamous Christian fundamentalist Burke family, interrupted the service to declare his refusal to use the correct pronouns for the students.
He then pursued and “loudly” questioned the school’s principal, Ms Niamh McShane, over the school’s stance on what he routinely dubs “transgenderism”.
Despite the school’s Board placing him on administrative leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary process, Mr Burke returned to the school grounds the next day, telling staff “I am here to work” and “I am here to attend a meeting”.
August 2022: High Court grants injunction ordering Enoch Burke to stay away from school grounds
Following the incident, a High Court granted Wilson’s Hospital School a preliminary injunction ordering Mr Burke to stay away from school grounds pending the disciplinary judgment.
Solicitor Rosemary Mallon BL sought the injunction on behalf of the school over fears that his refusal to stay away from the school would negatively impact students starting the academic year. A substitute teacher was hired to teach his classes.
High Court justice Siobhán Stack ruled that he could not return to the school’s premises, nor could he teach any classes or students, until the matter returned to the court the following week.
However, Mr Burke ignored the order, attending the school on two separate occasions in early September of that year.
September 2022: Enoch Burke is arrested and jailed for the first time
A further court order was requested by the school over Mr Burke’s refusal to follow the High Court’s instructions, stipulating that he would be jailed for contempt of court should he continue to return to the school.
Justice Miriam O’Regan granted the order and, on 5 September 2022, Mr Burke was arrested and remanded to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin after failing to appear at the High Court earlier that week.
On 7 September, during an enforced appearance before the Court, justice Max Barrett said he would remain in jail until he purges his contempt or until further order of the court.
Mr Burke responded saying he could not purge his contempt by holding his Christian beliefs in contempt, according to RTE. He remained in jail until December 2022.
January 2023: Enoch Burke is fired from Wilson’s Hospital School
Mr Burke was formally dismissed from his teaching role on 20 January 2023 following a disciplinary hearing earlier in the month. Despite this, he continued to return to the school grounds.
After breaching the injunction multiple times in just a few days, he was arrested on trespassing charges. Justice Brian O’Moore ruled that he was to be fined €700 (£611) every day until he purged his contempt. It was said in court that the fine, which amounted to almost €5,000 a week, “should persuade Mr Burke to end his utterly pointless attendance at a school which does not want him on its property”.
During this time, Mr Burke returned to the school gates nearly every single week day for over six months. By February 2023, Mr Burke’s actions had become so frequent that Fred Phelps Jr of the notorious Westboro Baptist Church said that he thought the former teacher had “gone too far”.
September 2023: Enoch Burke is jailed for a second time
On 9 September 2023, after breaching the order yet again the previous month, Mr Burke was sent back to Mountjoy Prison for a second time.
Now facing fines of over €140,000 for refusing to purge his contempt, Mr Burke yet again refused to abide by the court order while at a December 2023 hearing. This was the first time Mr Burke spent Christmas in jail.
At this point, Mr Burke’s family had begun regularly interrupting court hearings related to Mr Burke. Footage taken at the time shows members of the Burke family being forcefully dragged outside by Gardaí whilst screaming about “transgenderism”.
Mr Burke wouldn’t be released again until June 2024. During this period, he was allegedly kept isolated from fellow inmates for refusing to stay silent about his Christian fundamentalist beliefs.
June 2024: Enoch Burke is released from jail and reimprisoned for a third time
Just a few weeks after his release from jail in late June 2024, Mr Burke once again returned to the school grounds, entering one of the school’s buildings on one occasion. He was jailed for a third time in September.
Asked again whether he would abide by the order during an October 2024 hearing, Mr Burke once again refused. He was later released in December 2024
November 2025: Enoch Burke, now owing €200,000 in fines, is arrested for a fourth time
By November 2025 Mr Burke had been intermittently in jail for just over 500 days and accumulated over €200,000 in fines.
A High Court judge ordered on 18 November 2025 that he be remanded yet again to Mountjoy Prison for misconduct for refusing to stay away from the school. He once again spent Christmas in jail.
During this time, Justice Cregan described Mr Burke as a “baleful and malign presence” and an “intruder, stalking the school, its teachers, and its pupils”.
January 2026: Enoch Burke is released and jailed in less than a week
In the space of just days, Enoch Burke was released from, and sent back to, Mountjoy Prison for yet again breaching an almost three-year-old court order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School.
He was arrested on 19 January and jailed after Justice Cregan said he was satisfied that Mr Burke had once again breached the High Court’s order.
The former teacher has spent approximately 550 total days in prison, has been jailed on five separate occasions, and faces fines of over €225,000 (£198,118).
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