Firebrand family behind Irish gender row teacher: Enoch Burke who refused to 'call a boy a girl' is one of 10 siblings - and most are no stranger to legal battles over their own strident views
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Christian teacher Enoch Burke has been a central figurehead in Ireland's culture wars for two and a half years after causing a storm when he refused to acknowledge a transgender pupil's identity and 'they/them' pronouns. But when Burke gained notoriety around the world after being sacked as a teacher and later jailed for contempt of court, many locals were unsurprised by his extreme views - as the disgraced teacher was born to one of the most controversial families in Ireland.
![[Ammi Burke was physically removed from the Court of Appeal after repeatedly interrupting a hearing in the case of her brother Enoch. Pictured in March 2023]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/16/93321807-14209411-image-a-2_1734624206136.jpg)
Burke, who has just been released from jail after more than 500 days in jail for repeatedly defying a court order which banned him from protesting outside Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath when they sacked him, is one of 10 siblings; many of whom are well known in the community and nationally for their evangelical opinions.
![[At the same hearing in March 2023, Enoch's brother Simeon was carried out of the court of appeal over a skirmish]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/16/93321801-14209411-image-a-4_1734624251719.jpg)
The family is known to spout anti-LGBT beliefs and has campaigned against gay marriage and 'transgenderism' which they describe as 'anti-Christian'. The siblings were previously accused of sharing flyers on a university campus which implicitly connected gay marriage to paedophilia and incest.
![[Elijah Burke (pictured with his mother Martina) won a legal challenge in 2020 to be included in the government's calculated grades scheme which predicted the Cert Level results of students who were set to finish school during the pandemic. He had initially been excluded from the policy because he'd been homeschooled by Martina]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/21/13/93310861-14209411-Elijah_Burke_pictured_with_his_mother_Martina_won_a_legal_challe-m-3_1734787143972.jpg)
As Burke's sentence ends, his father, Seán is set to begin a two month sentence for assaulting garda Victoria Fisher in a courtroom scuffle which left her with bruising after she was knocked over and fell on a radiator. His sister Ammi, 33, was cleared of obstructing another police officer in the same incident which saw Burke family matriarch Martina escorted from the hearing for shouting at judges.
![[Isaac (pictured second right) arriving at the High Court with his mother Martina (right) sister Ammi (left) brother Simeon (centre) and and brother Josiah (second left) Ammi, Josiah??, Simeon, Isaac, Martina]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/16/83694899-14209411-Ammi_Josiah_Simeon_Isaac_Martina-a-7_1734624516780.jpg)
