The Burkes are an Irish family from Castlebar, County Mayo, known for their religious activism and frequent involvement in legal cases and protests in Ireland.
[1] Family members are parents Sean and Martina Burke and their ten children: Ammi, Elijah, Enoch, Esther, Isaac, Jemima, Josiah, Keren, Kezia, and Simeon.
[12] About a month before the referendum took place, Martina and Enoch Burke appeared on Joe Duffy's show Liveline, arguing that a mural depicting two men embracing should be painted over due to a lack of planning permission.
[12][13] The Burkes unsuccessfully tried to make the case that the mural was erected illegally, and was explicitly political, as the artist, Joe Caslin, had confirmed on Twitter that he had hoped to convince people to vote in favour of legalising gay marriage.
[14] In 2023, an investigative report by the Irish Independent found that during the 2019 European Parliament election in Ireland, Enoch Burke spent several thousand euro to purchase attack ads on Facebook targeting LGBT politicians Katherine Zappone and Maria Walsh.
Ammi requested that the presiding adjudicator, Kevin Baneham, recuse himself, alleging that he was a Labour Party "comrade" of Arthur Cox's senior counsel.
[25] Four days into the appeal, which was held virtually, the judge, Marguerite Bolger, threatened to mute Ammi's microphone if she continued making interruptions.
[27] In January 2020, Isaac Burke won an action he took against NUIG due to the university's delay in scheduling his thesis defence for completion of the Doctor of Philosophy degree in mathematics.
NUIG guidelines state that a viva should take place within two months of the submission of a thesis, but by July 2017, Isaac had still not been offered the opportunity to complete his examination.
Jemima Burke, claiming to represent a defunct newspaper, aggressively questioned chief medical officer Tony Holohan in May 2020.
Jemima protested because only 14 people were permitted due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, despite the right of public access to courts,[32] and the preliminary hearing was adjourned to a later date.
[32] During the rescheduled inquest in February 2022, Jemima, Josiah, and Martina were forcibly removed from the court by Gardaí after "causing huge distress to the bereaved family while making unfounded claims about the girl’s hospital care".
[1][33] As a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland in May 2020, instead of sitting the Leaving Certificate, students could substitute predicted grades as assigned by their teachers.
[35] Elijah made an appeal, and in August 2020 the High Court ruled in his favour, determining that he, and other students in his position, had been unfairly excluded.
Judge Charles Meenan advised that an independent teacher be involved in determining Elijah's predicted grades, and described his initial exclusion from the scheme as "irrational, unreasonable and unlawful”.
[35][36] In September 2020, NUIG instituted a mandatory pledge about COVID-19 status and certain COVID-19 response behaviors that all incoming and returning students had to sign as a condition of registration with the university.
[43][46] During an enforced appearance before the High Court on 7 September 2022, Burke declined to purge his contempt; Judge Max Barrett remanded him to custody at Mountjoy Prison for a further week and awarded costs against him.
[49] On 9 October 2022, the Irish Independent reported that Burke had been moved to a new jail cell for his own safety, after repeatedly expressing his outspoken views to other prisoners.
[52] On 13 December 2022, Enoch Burke requested Justice Conor Dignam to release him from custody, telling the court that he was "not a thief, a murderer or a drug dealer" and was behind bars because of his religious objections to "transgenderism".
[54] On 5 and 6 January 2023, Burke reappeared at the school; although the Gardaí were aware of the situation, they stated: "[because] these matters refer to a civil order, An Garda Síochána has no role at this time.
[56] Despite the termination of his employment, Burke entered the school premises twice on 24 January 2023, and was arrested under the Public Order Act and for trespass.
[61][62] On 19 February 2023, Fred Phelps Jr, pastor of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in America, said that though he supported Burke's position, he felt he had "gone too far".
Family members Ammi, Simeon, Isaac, Sean, Martina, and Enoch were ejected from the court by Gardaí due to their disruption when the judge attempted to read the judgment.
[70] Burke was released from jail in late June 2024, at the start of school summer holidays, but he did not agree to obey the court order.