He was proposed in 1633 by Ridolfi for the Scottish mission but remained in Rome as procurator of the Irish Dominican province, which he held till 1639, succeeding his brother, Oliver Burke.
In 1639 he was in London to carry out an arbitration in a dispute between English Dominicans, meriting praise from Carlo Rossetti, the Papal Representative.
He returned to Athenry in 1642 as its prior, instigating a programme of theological studies and was responsible for the repair of the priory church, thanks to the support of the Earl of Clanricarde.
Burke and his brother Oliver both served as chaplain and adviser to Clanricarde, and only left his household at the threat of severe censure from Dominic Nugent, the provincial.
Burke was a resolute opponent of Giovanni Battista Rinuccini during the later part of the Irish Confederate Wars, signing the Ormond Peace in 1646.