‘People don’t mix with them… they are kind of afraid’: A history of the Burke family’s legal dramas

Mayo’s Burke family have a long history of protests and courtroom dramas

Legal actions: Martina, Ammi and Isaac Burke arrive at the WRC at Lansdowne House in Dublin last month.

January 26 2023 09:30 AM

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The founder of Burke Christian School in Castlebar, Martina Burke, is a fiercely determined woman who stands up for her beliefs. She is a mother of 10, and claimed during a court case her son Isaac took against NUIG in 2020 to have educated “hundreds” of children over the past three decades.

The latest episode in her family’s long-running history of public protests and high-profile legal actions has seen her son teacher Enoch Burke in a high-profile standoff with his old school.