Claim: Enoch Burke was arrested on Jan. 19, 2026 for refusing to use a student's "they" pronoun. Findings: Independent reporting indicates Burke was detained after returning to Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham in violation of a High Court order to stay away. The online claim linking the arrest to pronoun refusal is unsupported by evidence. Lead Stories has requested the court order to further verify the reports.
Fact Check: Enoch Burke Arrested Jan. 19, 2026 For Violating Court Order — Not For Refusing 'They' Pronoun
Lead Stories says: Defied Decree
Claims that Irish teacher Enoch Burke was arrested on Jan. 19, 2026 for refusing to use the singular they pronoun for a student are false. Independent Irish news outlets reported that Burke was detained outside Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham, County Westmeath after breaching a High Court order requiring him to stay away from the school.
What Was Posted Online
An X post on Jan. 19, 2026 by the @MarioNawfal account (archived) claimed Burke was "arrested again after refusing to use 'they' pronoun for student" and included a quoted passage framing the arrest as punishment for opposing "transgender ideology." The post offered no evidence linking the Jan. 19 detention to a refusal to use a student's preferred pronouns.
"Back in cuffs again. Enoch Burke, the Irish teacher who's already spent over 560 days in jail, was arrested again this morning outside Wilson's Hospital School. Why? He wouldn't call a male student 'they,' as demanded by the school principal... They can throw me in a prison cell, but they can't force me to lie."
What Independent Reporting Says
Reporting by The Irish Times and TheJournal.ie indicates Burke's detention followed his return to the school in breach of a High Court order that barred him from the premises. According to those reports, a High Court judge ordered Burke returned to custody after he attended the school on Jan. 19, 2026.
Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of post x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2013227802833887664.
Context And History
Burke, a history and German teacher, was suspended from Wilson's Hospital School in August 2022 following a public confrontation with the principal about a pupil who is transitioning. He objected to using the pupil's preferred name and pronouns on religious grounds. After he was suspended, he repeatedly attempted to enter the school to teach, prompting a court order that required him to stay away from the site.
In early September 2024 Burke was arrested for contempt of court after violating that stay-away order; reports describe that as his third such arrest. He subsequently spent roughly 560 days in Mountjoy Prison. A judge later released him on the condition that he not return to the school while preparing for a hearing. When he attended the school again on Jan. 19, 2026, the High Court ordered his reimprisonment, according to the news reports.
Verification Status
Lead Stories has asked Irish judicial authorities for a copy of the specific High Court order to verify the details of the January 19 reimprisonment and said it will add court documentation when those records are provided. As of the cited reports, available evidence supports that the detention related to violating a court order rather than to a single incident of refusing to use a particular pronoun.
Bottom line: The Jan. 19, 2026 arrest was reported as a consequence of breaching a court-ordered stay-away requirement. Social posts claiming the arrest was specifically for refusing to use the singular "they" lack supporting evidence.
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