Meet Ireland's Duggar/Westboro Family

Last night I came across the below videos from an Irish anti-gay marriage group calling themselves Mandate For Marriage.  From their "about" page:

Mandate for Marriage is a website established by Mr Sean Burke, who lives in Castlebar, Co. Mayo with his wife and family. He presents the case that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that this definition is in the best interests of the stability of the family, the rearing of children, and the protection of religious liberty. Sean is assisted in the campaign by his two sons. Enoch Burke is the official spokesperson and media representative for Mandate for Marriage. Isaac Burke is responsible for media productions at Mandate for Marriage. Marriage, as a social institution, has a long enjoyed a privileged and celebrated status. The mandate for marriage is historically viewed as coming from God: ‘therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife’ (Genesis 2:24). The Irish state, in its Constitution, recognised and protected marriage as an important institution ‘upon which the family is founded.’ No state has a right to usurp this mandate and redefine marriage, as the Irish government is requesting to do in this referendum.

Enoch and Isaac? Right out of Genesis. As it turns out, there's eight more of those kids and the Burke family is rather notorious in their neck of Ireland.

The Burkes are a family from Castlebar who are known for their campaigns against Gay Marriage, where they quote Leviticus, and claim that the gay community invented AIDS. They are made up of Martina and Sean Burke, and their ten children, all of whom have biblical names. The parents of the family run the website Campaign for Conscience where they post articles on issues such as abortion and Christian values. They have been part of daily conversation in Galway recently as two of the Burke children who attend NUI Galway have been running for positions on the NUIG Students Union. Enoch Burke who is the part of the Christian Union Society, has been running for Equality Officer. His younger brother and Auditor of the College’s Life Society, has been running for Post-Graduate Officer. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However what I strongly disagree with are the Christian Union’s posters in which they say "To permit couples of the same gender to avail of marriage is to change this definition. Once altered in part, the entire definition is then subject to change. For example, the NAMBLA group (USA) are now lobbying for marriage status for pedophilic men-boy relationships."

In other words, the Burkes are an Irish mashup of the Duggars and Westboro. In fact, this site calls them "Ireland's Phelps family." (And like the Phelps, the kids sing.) With that in mind, view the below admittedly slick videos. Clearly the Burkes are taking the cues from the likes of FRC and the AFA.


RELATED:  Watch Irish students protest the Burke family, who can be seen lined up to the left of the sitting students.