Members of the family of Enoch Burke, a teacher at the center of a case regarding pronoun usage, protest outside the La Mon hotel in Comber, Northern Ireland on Sept. 20, 2025. (Charles McQuillan / Getty Images)
By Michael Austin July 28, 2026 at 5:30am
An Irish teacher was released from prison in the latest stage of his legal battles against preferred pronoun policies — and related contempt of court charges — forcing him to violate Christian sexual ethics.
Enoch Burke, an evangelical Christian and former teacher at Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, was suspended from his teaching job in 2022 for objecting to a policy requiring staff to address so-called transgender students by their preferred pronouns, per a July 2 report from Christian Today.
He eventually received court orders telling him to stay away from the school, which he has refused to honor, resulting in him spending around 700 collective days in prison.
The High Court in Dublin ordered his latest release.
Christian Today reported that “circumstances had changed materially after Burke lost his appeal against his dismissal for gross misconduct, with the judge concluding that this development altered the context in which Burke’s continuing imprisonment should be assessed.”
The High Court has ordered the release of teacher Enoch Burke from prison.
He has spent almost 700 days in prison since September 2022 for refusing to use gender bending ideology pronouns in the classroom.
A man of integrity. pic.twitter.com/FlAoxdYQzE
— Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 (@TRobinsonNewEra) July 1, 2026
The Irish Times reported on July 8 that Burke has mounted a new legal challenge seeking to overturn a decision upholding his dismissal.
The challenge would even see him reinstated to Ireland’s Department of Education payroll.
The new lawsuit is against the three-member disciplinary appeals panel that decided the appeals case regarding his dismissal, as well as the Wilson’s Hospital School’s board and the Irish Minister for Education.
BREAKING: Enoch Burke speaks after release from prison today
Teacher Enoch Burke was released from prison this morning.
Judge Brian Cregan said he was releasing Enoch Burke from prison because the Disciplinary Appeal Panel (DAP) process, set up to hear Enoch Burke’s appeal of… pic.twitter.com/Klv86On3WD
— Enoch Burke (@EnochBurke) July 1, 2026
The Irish Times said that Burke wants the court to “remit his appeal for fresh consideration” by a differently constituted disciplinary appeals panel.
He also demanded “a further order requiring the minister to reinstate him on her department’s payroll in respect of his employment at the school.”
The outlet noted that Burke was employed between August 2018 and August 2022.
Burke characterized the pronoun policy as a “demand” that all staff members “accept transgenderism,” and he publicly asked the school principal to withdraw the policy.
Wilson’s Hospital School is affiliated with the Church of Ireland, which is associated with the Anglican Communion but does not report to the Church of England.
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Michael wrote for several entertainment news outlets before joining The Western Journal in 2020. He now serves as Managing Editor, which involves managing the editorial team and operations, guiding the publication’s editorial direction, and writing, editing, curating and assigning stories as needed.
Birthplace
Ames, Iowa
Nationality
American
Education
Iowa State University
Topics of Expertise
Cultural Politics, Pop Culture, Christian-Conservatism
