Enoch Burke has been returned to Mountjoy Prison one week after a judge ordered his committal.
Gardaí had sought to arrest and commit the suspended teacher to prison since last week, however had difficulty in doing so, having gone to his family home in Castlebar in Mayo a number of times.
High Court judge Brian Cregan last week ordered Mr Burke’s arrest for contempt of court. The arrest is for breaching a court order not to attend the school, where Burke has persistently attended.
In a statement, Gardaí confirmed: “An Garda Síochána executed a High Court order in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath this afternoon, Tuesday 25th November 2025.”
Mr Burke has already spent 513 days in prison on three separate stints.
Mr Burke released a video on X three days ago, which was filmed outside Wilson’s Hospital School, where he taught German and History for seven years before being embroiled in a row with the then-principal over the use of the “they” pronoun for a student.
Last week, the judge said Mr Burke would still be able to hold beliefs and comply with the injunction not to attend the school, which has described his continued presence as a “potential danger” to students.
“As you know, [this is] where I’ve worked for the past seven years, since 2018,” said Mr Burke in a video posted after he came out of hiding and went to Wilson’s Hospital School. “You saw that judgement this week from judge Brian Cregan – jail again for the fourth time. That judgement [is] a very serious attack on my character.”
Mr Burke claimed that he had “served God, and this school, with a good conscience” for the past seven years.
“He said that I was roaming about this school; a lot of nonsense. I come here, I stand in the corridor, I report for work. I conduct myself with the utmost dignity and respect,” said Burke.
“And that is the way I have always conducted myself.”
In the video message, Mr Burke accepted that he was going back to jail, which he said was because “I will not succumb to transgender ideology.”
‘THEY BETRAYED ME’
“Back to jail for the fourth time. This, I suppose, would never have happened if it weren’t for the failure of the church,” he added.
The teacher said that he felt he had been failed by the Church.
“This is a Church of Ireland school with a Church of Ireland ethos. Bishops sitting on the Board of Management, and they betrayed me and they let me down.”
“When I was hired here, I was hired to uphold that Chrisitan ethos. When trouble came then, you would expect them to defend you, to come behind you, to support you. But nothing of the sort.”
“But of course it’s not just this school,” said Mr Burke. “And I’ve always said that. It’s every school in this country. And it’s not just the Church of Ireland. The Roman Catholic Church, the biggest denomination in the country with many schools, silent.”
Mr Burke, referring to Belong To week in schools across the country earlier in the month, said that students were being told that they “must celebrate” the transgender pride flag being raised in schools and “the morals of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
“The Catholic Church [is] silent,” said Burke. “Their boards of management, silent. They agree with it. The Bishops and Archbishops [have] nothing to say.”
“I would simply say to people, as you see me taken away in a prison van for the fourth time, I will say thank you very much for the wonderful support and I must say the outpouring of wonderful support from thousands. But I would say this ultimately isn’t about me and my family.
“It’s about you and your family. And I would encourage you, please, to challenge your religious leaders. Those people you are trusting in, and they are betraying you and presiding over the anti-Christian ideology that every child in this country now is being forced to celebrate and to bow to.”
“It’s anti-God and it’s anti-Christian,” said Burke. ‘We’re all going to die. We all have to live for something.”
Mr Burke said that the right to freedom of conscience was “inalienable” and “a wonderful right,” adding: “It’s very important that it would continue in this country and not perish.”
In his judgment last week, Mr Justice Cregan emphasised that Mr Burke was being imprisoned once more for defying a court order to remain away from the school – saying this was not because of his religious beliefs.