On Tuesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan ruled in the High Court that Burke, who has continually turned up at his former school in Multyfarnham in Co Westmeath in defiance of court orders, be placed in prison for a fourth time.
He has already served three periods of imprisonment totalling 513 days.
In the past, gardaí have never found it difficult to find Mr Burke in order to imprison him on court orders, but efforts to find him since Tuesday have so far not been successful.
The teacher, who was sacked by Wilson’s Hospital School in January 2023 over incidents in which he publicly confronted the then principal about a request to address a student by preferred pronouns, left his school protest on Tuesday at around the time the court ruling was made.
He did not show up at the school yesterday where there were two security guards posted at the gate.
And in two posts on X yesterday his family posted footage of gardaí at their home in Castlebar in Co Mayo seeking his whereabouts.
The first call was in the afternoon, and the second call from gardaí was on Wednesday night.
The first social post read: “Gardaí arrived this evening at the Burke home to arrest teacher Enoch Burke. This is a dark and shameful day, brought on by corrupt judges who have refused to uphold the Constitution and are denying the citizens of Ireland their God-given rights.”
Enoch Burke at the High Court, Dublin, arriving with family members including his brother Isaac (left), mother Martina (second left), and sister Ammi (right). Photo: Brian Lawless
News in 90 Seconds – November 20 2025
It was accompanied by a video in which a woman remonstrates with three gardaí who have arrived in a van and ask for Mr Burke.
“Enoch Burke has a right to religious rights in this country, he has a right to religious freedom and he has a right not to accept trangenderism,” the woman says.
She said the gardaí seeking to arrest Mr Burke was “absolutely disgraceful”.
As the gardaí get back into their van and drive back out the driveway of the property without Mr Burke, the woman says: “This is all the gardaí have to do today with all the crime, with all the abuse, the drugs the assaults, this is what the gardaí are doing, coming up here looking for Enoch Burke, it’s a sad, sad day.”
The second post reads: “Gardai arrive at Burke home for a second time to arrest teacher Enoch Burke” and the accompanying video Mr Burke’s father Sean can be seen answering the door and telling gardaí that Enoch is entitled to his religious beliefs.
“It’s really shameful that you are here. He has a constitutional right, we all have, to profess and practice our belief. That has been denied my son,” he tells gardaí.
A garda explains to Mr Burke snr that they are there under the instructions of the High Court, and asks Mr Burke does he know where Enoch is. Mr Burke then tells gardaí “this is going on three years” and does not answer the question concerning Enoch’s whereabouts.
As the four gardaí leave the house members of the Burke family can be heard calling after them, reminding them that they are on private property.
Stand-off
The current situation is an unusual one for both Mr Burke and gardaí.
Up until this point Mr Burke has always been visible and available to gardai, and he has used situations of court appearances and arrests to publicly voice his opinion that he is being persecuted for his religious beliefs.
Mr Burke has spent three terms in prison to date, amounting to more than 500 days in total. In order to get out of prison he is required to purge his contempt and declare that he will not go back to the school, but so far he has not done so.
His release from prison in the past was because he was seen to be obtaining an advantage from his defiance of the court order, and even though stiff fines were imposed upon him, and his bank account drained to pay for them, he has continued on his quest to turn up unwanted at the school.
But something now appears to have changed in his psyche, and it appears he is now trying to avoid going to jail again.
He cannot be found, and if he wants to avoid jail he cannot turn up at the school or he will be arrested.
If he does not want to go to jail again he has the option of standing before a judge and purging his contempt, but that would also mean giving up his daily school protest which he now cannot engage in anyway because of impending arrest.
Mr Burke has found himself in a cycle where his school protests and “I’m here to teach” and “This is my place of work” mantra have had to fall silent.
Wilson’s Hospital School seems to have the upper hand now because whether or not Mr Burke remains in hiding or not it seems he is destined to stay away from the school.
Yet gardaíi are duty bound to carry out the High Court order given to them by Mr Justice Cregan, and it appears they will keep seeking him to bring him back to jail.
It is unclear what has changed in Mr Burke’s mind that has put him in a situation where he does not want to be found, and in effect everywhere he goes is now a prison where he has no freedom and he cannot engage in his daily school protest.
It is the first time in the ongoing saga that Mr Burke appears to be backed into a corner.
It remains to be seen what his immediate future holds. If gardaí find him he will be imprisoned until he purges his contempt. If he goes to the school he will be imprisoned until he purges his contempt. If he stays in hiding he is silenced and cannot attend the school.
Mr Burke’s salary is being used by the courts to pay his fines of more than €225,000, and his bank account has been emptied for the same purpose.
He was also reminded, in his absence, on Tuesday that Mr Justice Cregan had directed the teacher to prepare a statement of assets and income, which he failed to do so, in what the judge said was “yet another example of his refusal to obey a court order”.
But Mr Justice Cregan then went further. “It also raises questions in the mind of the court as to whether he has any other sources of income,” the judge said.
Those questions remain as the search for Mr Burke continues and gardaí continue to search for him, or he make himself available to them.
The landscape of Mr Burke’s protest appears to have changed suddenly, and at Wilson’s Hospital School in Multyfarnham today students and staff were working in a more normal situation.