Management consultant Mok O'Keefe, 56, lost his entire family within two years, his job, and his home, leaving him living on £20 a week. But after moving into a haunted castle in Wales, he has found new purpose and friendship with the spirits that reside there.
A String of Tragedies
In 2010, Mok was living in London when a series of catastrophic events struck. His brother Andrew died at age 44, his father died the day after Andrew's funeral, and his mother lost her mental capacity. Mok lost his job and couldn't afford his house, selling it under duress. He was living on £20 a week, but couldn't afford to fall apart because he had to help raise his three nieces.
He bought a small cottage in Gloucestershire to escape for a couple of nights a week, where he unexpectedly met Joe, his future husband. The couple moved to Wales five years ago, buying a five-bedroom Elizabethan home with a turret and a title near Abergavenny for £900,000.
Encountering the Paranormal
The previous owner warned Mok the house was haunted, saying she had been lifted and carried down the stairs. Mok initially dismissed it, but after moving in, he told the ghosts he was happy to share the house but they must leave him alone. For a few months, they did. Then he started experiencing visitations: moving figures, lights flickering, and footsteps so loud they woke him. His yoga mat would be rolled up and tucked away, and his schnoodle Chaucer would bark at invisible spirits.
Researching the castle's history, Mok learned it was used as a holding place for prisoners before their execution at the Skirrid Mountain Inn, Wales' most haunted pub. The night before hanging, prisoners would sleep in what is now Mok's bedroom.
Meeting Gladys
Mok discovered a lady named Gladys, the youngest of nine children, lived in the castle into her nineties and had her ashes scattered on the cherry tree in the garden. Neighbors have seen her ghostly figure roaming the grounds. Mok invited local psychic Lisa to investigate. She confirmed forces were at work and channeled Gladys, who told Mok to take control of the ghosts.
"Through Lisa, Gladys said I had to take control of the ghosts. They were misbehaving. So I had to stand in my room and say: 'You can't come upstairs after 9.30pm.' After that it went really quiet and they rarely bother me," Mok said.
Living in Harmony
Mok now believes in the spirit world but is not frightened. If ghosts act up, he tells them to "go into the light." He describes the house as having a beautiful, calm energy that envelops him with love. "I love being here, and I think of it almost like it's another character in my family. It's like Diana, with three of us in this marriage, and this house is a support to us," he said. Mok plans to be carried out of the house in a box and have some of his ashes sprinkled on top of Gladys' in the old cherry tree she planted as a child.
