Gardaí can’t find Enoch Burke after calling to his house to imprison him for contempt of court

Burke was ordered back to prison by the High Court on Tuesday.

11.36am, 20 Nov 2025

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GARDAÍ SEEKING TO execute a High Court order to imprison Enoch Burke have been unable to locate the former teacher after calling to his home twice yesterday.

Judge Brian Cregan ordered Burke’s re-committal to prison for contempt of court on Tuesday, following the former teacher’s repeated trespassing at Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath.

Burke has been jailed for contempt of court multiple times for breaching an injunction that requires him to stay away from Wilson’s, following his dismissal for gross misconduct after he interrupted a religious service and confronted the school’s principal.

The former teacher maintains he is being persecuted for his religious opposition to a requirement to address a transgender pupil by their preferred pronouns, a claim that was strongly rejected by Judge Cregan in his judgment on Tuesday.

Burke had been released after refusing to purge his contempt but was directed to pay fines every time he breached the order instead; he now owes the State more than €225,000 after continuing to trespass at the school.

However, Judge Cregan said on Tuesday that the fines had not stopped Burke from turning up at the school and ordered his imprisonment again for “repeated and flagrant breaches of the court order”.

Footage posted on social media yesterday by accounts associated with Burke shows how gardaí twice called to his family home in Castlebar to carry out the court order.

In the first video – filmed by one of Burke’s sisters during the daytime and posted at around 6pm yesterday evening – a garda is seen asking whether Burke is present at the house; when no answer is given, gardaí are shown leaving the property.

A second video – filmed when it is dark outside and posted shortly before midnight – again shows gardaí asking whether Burke is present, and telling the teacher’s father Sean about the order from the High Court ordering Enoch’s committal to prison.

After a garda asks where Enoch is and receives no response, the video shows gardaí leaving the property.

It has also been reported that Burke has stopped showing up to Wilson’s since the High Court order was made on Tuesday.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that the force has an order relating to contempt of court by “a named individual” but that it does not comment on the details of ongoing operations.