Gareth O'Callaghan: A personal letter to Enoch Burke this Christmas
A High Court judge has comprehensively rejected claims by jailed schoolteacher Enoch Burke that there were errors in an earlier judgment jailing him over his repeated trespass at Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath. Picture: Brian Lawless
Dear Enoch,
I write this from a place of goodwill as Christmas draws nearer. We don’t know each other, nor have we ever met. So why am I writing it? Perhaps it’s because I’m intrigued by you — like so many others are.
Along with your family, you have been making headlines for almost 20 years with your religious beliefs and activism.
However, since August 2022, when you confronted your then-principal at the school you worked for about a transitioning student during a staff meeting, a chapel service, and at a dinner, your story has attracted global attention.
Your objection to using the student’s preferred pronouns, arguing that to do so violates your religious rights, set you apart.
Your ongoing violation of court authority keeps your story alive.
It’s a conversation topic in schools, offices, pubs, and households whenever you appear on screens up and down the country.
Some champion your stance, while others wish you would go away; then there are those who see you as nothing more than a comical caricature — an online celebrity meme.
You are intelligent and well-educated. People local to your homeplace say you come from good stock. I am fascinated by your resilience. I suspect you believe the source of that comes from a higher power. You are entitled to your religious belief, as your father Seán correctly said, as are we all. It’s called inclusivity — something you explicitly refuse to accept.
Unlike you, I am not religious. I lean towards a spirituality that is not based on ancient scriptural laws — call it a universal power for good.
You should read up on covenantal pluralism, which calls us not to tolerance, but to real, respectful engagement.
Its aim is to bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality.
I drove by Mountjoy prison last Sunday and thought of you. It’s a bleak place that’s impossible to fathom if you haven’t done time there.
I had reason to visit the place some years back. The chaplain, who was a friend, asked if I would meet an 18-year-old prisoner who was on remand. He was suicidal.
I won’t forget walking across the yard during prisoners’ exercise time. The atmosphere felt threatening; for someone vulnerable, it would be hell on earth.
This is your fourth stint in prison, and it could be your longest. March 3 next year is a long way off. For the record, you’re not in jail for your divinely-ordained views on gender ideology; you’re there because you refused to do what a judge ordered.
In September 2024 you told the judge: “You will answer to God for imprisoning me for my religious beliefs”.
The judge had no interest in your beliefs, he was just doing his job.
You are a prisoner without a conviction, but you are not a prisoner of conscience. Your religious views are tolerated in this State, despite what you claim; but your contempt of court isn’t. Your prison status is unique in that you can leave anytime by purging your contempt and be back home in Castlebar for Christmas.
The bigotry around the subject reminds me of the divorce referendum 30 years ago when the vote passed with a margin of 50.28% in favour, 49.79% opposed.
The almost 50% who voted against wanted marriage to remain steadfastly intact in law forever, no matter how broken the union was.
Were Garda statements from some wife who was being beaten by her husband (or vice versa) not grounds for divorce? Not in the eyes of those who voted no: Consent to marriage was for life, even if that life was brutal.
I will think of you on Christmas Day, as will others for reasons known to themselves. You will eat your dinner alone, locked up in your cell. Ask yourself, is that really what God expects of you?
That’s not how I imagine God to be. Of course, each of us has our own way of perceiving God, or who/whatever he (or it) may be.
Millions of people don’t perceive God as a man or a tangible being — hence their preference for using a different pronoun. She/he/they? Does it matter? For those who believe in a power that brings peace of mind, a pronoun can serve as an identity.
In a statement to , your brother Josiah said that "transgenderism" is “an anti-Christian ideology that entraps vulnerable children”.
These children have been vulnerable most of their lives, ever since they started to understand their feelings and began to come to terms with the sense of loss that comes from being trapped in a body they believe they should never have been born in.
Do I have a problem with your right to your beliefs? Absolutely not.
However, I have a problem with your rhetoric — it’s conceited and cruel, and it impacts how young impressionable minds think. You are a teacher, and I am a parent. I disagree with your religious beliefs overriding your teaching ethics.
I recall your family protesting their anti-LGBT+ views outside Leinster House in 2008 with placards quoting Leviticus 18:22, which states: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination”.
Let me remind you of Leviticus 19:18: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself”.
Like you, I’m no stranger to the Bible. I can be fairly handy plucking a quote when it suits, but a literal interpretation of ancient precepts serves no real purpose in today’s pluralistic society. Fundamentalism is the choice of the fanatic.
Leviticus was compiled around 3,500 years ago. Much of its writings have been attributed to Moses; but was there ever such a man? Even the shrewdest of historians aren’t sure if he existed. Three-and-a-half millennia later, it’s not that important.
What is important is the teenager who became embroiled in your controversy in the school that employed you, who never asked to be part of it. I admire the staff for weighing in with their support for this student, as you would expect good teachers to do.
I’m familiar with the views that have developed around the transgender issue. A teenager in my extended family is on that journey, while two protective parents offer support where they can, with love and dignity.
It’s a terrifying journey, fraught with uncertainty. The life they raised their child for is being exchanged for one they never imagined. What amazes me is the strength of conviction this teenager publicly displays, despite the fear of what other people think or how they might react.
You must be confused, and it’s fine to admit you are. Am I confused by the transgender issue? Absolutely. I’ve yet to meet someone who isn’t. Perhaps you will relate better to the transgender child you thrust into the spotlight by thinking of their situation like your own — they have also spent time in a prison — trapped inside a body they don’t identify with.
In any case, I’m often reminded that all we will ever be remembered for long after we’re dead is the impact we had on the people whose lives we connected with. Nothing else will matter.
I wish you a peaceful Christmas.
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