A teacher in Ireland is back in court fighting for his right to follow his religious beliefs, and a judge is now vowing to keep him in jail through Christmas.
Enoch Burke says he was fired from his position at Wilson’s Hospital School in 2022 after Principal Niamh McShane demanded he use the “they/them” pronoun for a male student. Burke says he refused, was subsequently suspended, and later dismissed.
Burke has fought the decision not only in court, citing that it violated his constitutional rights and religious beliefs, but he has, on several occasions, attempted to return to the school grounds to teach.
“I have a right to work. I’m on the payroll. I’m a teacher of German history,” he recently told the Irish Mirror in August. “Teachers are being instructed to teach this and to tell children something that they believe is wrong and that they know is wrong. This isn’t just about me. It’s happening all around the country and it’s wrong. And it’s my responsibility to do what’s right.”
According to several reports, the school obtained a court injunction prohibiting Burke from attending the school in the days following his dismissal.
So far, Burke has spent 500 days in prison for repeatedly “breach(ing) court orders directing him not to trespass on school property,” a November 18 ruling by Ireland’s High Court cited.
Burke was first jailed in 2022 and told that he would face a fine of 700 euros or $800 a day for each time he defied the order and turned up at the school. That amount later increased to 2,000 euros or $2,300. He currently owes the Courts Service of Ireland more than 225,000 euros, Reuters reports.
Burke has fought the charges tooth and nail saying he has every right to still show up to the school as he is being paid a teacher’s salary from the Department of Education and Youth, pending an appeal before the Disciplinary Appeals Panel.
He contends he is being punished for his faith-based belief that there are only two genders: male and female.
In a timeline posted to his X account, Burke shares that in 2023, when he first appealed his case, the court ruled “‘there is no evidence whatsoever’ that Enoch Burke was disciplined because of his views on transgenderism or because he objected to the Principal’s instruction to call a child by a new name and the ‘they’ pronoun.”
BREAKING: Jailed Teacher Enoch Burke lodges Supreme Court Appeal
— Enoch Burke (@EnochBurke) December 6, 2025
Prison guards escorted Enoch Burke to the Supreme Court in Dublin on Friday.
It is now over 3 years since Principal Niamh McShane demanded that teacher Enoch Burke use the “they/them” pronoun for a male student.… pic.twitter.com/yIjec395XQ
Burke contends that the claim is “blatantly false” because the principal’s disciplinary report shows it was the basis of his suspension. In 2025, a second court of appeals acknowledged the fact that “Enoch Burke’s views on transgenderism and his objection to the Principal’s instruction were central to why he was suspended and dismissed.” However, the second court of appeals refused to “acknowledge that the findings of the first Court of Appeal were wrong.”
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