The Burkes are an Irish family from Castlebar, County Mayo, known for their radical religious activism and involvement in high-profile legal cases and protests in Ireland. The family are fundamentalist evangelical Christians, and consists of parents Martina and Sean Burke and their ten children: Ammi, Elijah, Enoch, Esther, Isaac, Jemima, Josiah, Keren, Kezia, and Simeon. A frequent subject of their protests is the LGBT community in Ireland.
Background
Sean Burke, a qualified electrician, and his wife, Martina, a qualified schoolteacher, together operate the "Burke Christian School" and independent Evangelical church at Cloonsunna, near Castlebar in County Mayo. All ten of their children - Ammi, Elijah, Enoch, Esther, Isaac, Jemima, Josiah, Keren, Kezia, and Simeon - have names taken from the Old Testament of the Bible.
Academia
The Burke children were all home schooled, and several hold postgraduate degrees. Isaac has a PhD in mathematics, and Kezia has won awards for a paper she wrote on mathematics and physics. Enoch also holds two bachelor's degrees (one in theological studies, the other in history and politics) as well as a master's degree in education. Josiah holds an MSc in economic history. Simeon won the Mayo School's Debating Competition alongside his brother Elijah, and represented the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) at the final of The Irish Times Debating Competition in 2020.
Anti-LGBT activism
The Burke family have collectively expressed anti-LGBT views, including in 2008 when members of the family protested outside of Dáil Eireann with placards quoting a version of a verse from Leviticus 18 which states "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination". Enoch Burke was involved in picketing outside St. James's Hospital in which he confronted passersby about links between homosexuals and HIV/AIDS. In 2014, members of the family attending NUIG distributed leaflets linking homosexuality to incest and pedophilia. During the 2015 referendum on same-sex marriage, members of the family campaigned for a "no" vote, with Isaac and Enoch becoming involved with the Mandate for Marriage campaign group. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 they protested the annual gay pride parade in Castlebar.
Opposition to gay mural (2015) In April 2015, Martina and Enoch Burke appeared on Joe Duffy's show Liveline, arguing that a mural depicting two men embracing should be painted over due to a lack of planning permission. The mural, by artist Joe Caslin, was located on the corner of Dame Street and George's Street. Having called in separately, they refused to answer Duffy when he questioned whether the two were related. Taking place roughly a month before the 2015 referendum on same-sex marriage, the Burkes made the case that the mural was erected illegally, and was explicitly political, as the artist, they said, had confirmed on Twitter that he had hoped to convince people to vote in favour of legalising gay marriage. Arguing against them, callers to the show made the case that a mural does not require planning permission provided it is neither commercial in nature nor involves product promotion, and that a depiction of two men in an embrace, absent any political slogans or explicit indications the pair were married, could not be explicitly taken as an endorsement of gay marriage. Callers accused Martina in particular of being disingenuous, as she stated on the show that she would not have called to complain about an illegally erected mural depicting something else.
Negative campaigning against LGBT politicians (2019) In 2023 it was discovered by the Irish Independent that during the 2019 European Parliament election in Ireland, Enoch Burke spent several thousand euro to purchase attack ads on Facebook targetting LGBT politicians such as Katherine Zappone and Maria Walsh. The adverts took users to websites created by Enoch Burke which negatively portrayed the politicians, with the website focusing on Katherine Zappone accusing her of being associated with witchcraft and holding anti-Christian views.