Enoch Burke returned to prison for contempt of court
By Gráinne Ní Aodha and Bairbre Holmes, PA
Enoch Burke has been returned to prison on Tuesday on foot of a High Court order to imprison him for contempt.
A judge had decided on November 18th that he should be returned to prison for “repeated and flagrant” breaches of court orders directing him not to attend a Co Westmeath school where he used to teach.
Mr Burke and his family, who are Evangelical Christians from Co Mayo, are embroiled in a lengthy legal row with Wilson’s Hospital School, where Mr Burke formerly worked as a teacher.
The row stems from incidents at the school over a request in 2022 from the school’s then-principal that a student be addressed by a new name and pronoun.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan said that the court case before him was not about Mr Burke’s views on trans issues, and was instead about his repeated breach of court orders directing him not to trespass on school property.
Mr Cregan said that as Mr Burke had not paid a euro of the thousands of euro worth of fines imposed by the courts, and as security guards at the school had not deterred him from attending, he said there was no other way to enforce the order other than to imprison Mr Burke.
Mr Burke said in court previously that he had spent around 500 days in prison.
The judge said that Mr Burke “has the keys to his own prison” and can be released if he purges his contempt.
He also said Mr Burke and his family had committed “the most deliberate, sustained and concerted attack” on the civil courts and the rule of law in Ireland in recent times.
He also asked the Attorney General to bring proceedings against Mr Burke, his mother Martina, his brother Isaac Burke, and his sister Ammi Burke for criminal contempt of court.
Days later on November 21st, a video was posted to Mr Burke’s X account where he can be seen standing outside Wilson’s Hospital School.
In a statement, An Garda Síochána said it had “executed a High Court order in Mullingar, Co Westmeath this afternoon, Tuesday 25th November 2025”.
