However, things took a turn for the worse with the death of Christopher Burke Snr from Bright's disease on 12 October 1906 at the age of just 44.

[4] Thomas Burke was the founder of the Drogheda branch of the Irish Volunteers and was a courier for the revolutionary leader Michael Collins.

When the truce to end the Irish War of Independence was signed in 1921, Burke was interned in the Curragh.

[5] Starting in 1924, Thomas Burke refereed four consecutive Leinster Senior Football Championship (SFC) finals.

That same August, Burke refereed the most important match of his career - the 1928 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final between Kildare and Cavan.