Maponus & the Clochmaben Stone August 31st

Maponus was a Celtic God of Youth, linked, in the Roman period, to Apollo.  He held sway in Gaul and Britain and is attested by Roman inscriptions.

Here is an example from Ribchester in Lancashire.  This is from a Roman Cavalry Fort, founded c 70AD

To the holy god Apollo Maponus for the welfare of our Lord (the Emperor) and of Gordian’s Own Unit of Sarmatian cavalry of Bremetennacum Aelius Antoninus, centurion of the Sixth Legion Victrix, from Melitene, acting-commander and prefect, fulfilled his vow willingly, deservedly. Dedicated 31 August in the consulship of the Emperor Our Lord Gordian for the second time and of Ponpeianus.

The supplicant Aelius Antoninus was stationed at Ribchester which the inscription refers to as Bremetennacum, but he is from Melitene, which is on the Euphrates. 

With the inscription was a sculpture of Maponus showing him with a cloak but naked and with a lyre and possibly a quiver of arrows.  There were also two women one  young, largely naked and crowned. The other full clothed. One theory is that they are personifications of the place and the province. Perhaps they are the Divine Mother  and a lover?  You can read more about this inscription on this wonderful Roman Inscriptions site: https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/583

Maponus was the divine ever-youthful God.  He is mentioned on the Celtic Coligny Calendar.  This is a very rare inscription which is written in Celtic, and explains the Celtic Calendar.

On it the 15th day of the month of Riuos is marked with the word “Mapanos”. This around the end of August and suggests the Altar might have been raised on the feast day of Maponus.

Maponus & Oengus mac Óc

Maponus is associated also with the Irish Divine Boy  Oengus mac Óc. Son of the Dagda

There is more about Oengus and Maponus if you read this post.  But from it I got this lovely quotation:

 “And he was a beautiful young man, with high looks, and his appearance was more beautiful than all beauty, and there were ornaments of gold on his dress; in his hand he held a silver harp with strings of red gold, and the sound of its strings was sweeter than all music under the sky; and over the harp were two birds that seemed to be playing on it. He sat beside me pleasantly and played his sweet music to me, and in the end he foretold things that put drunkenness on my wits.”

Clochmabon or Lochmabon stone. 

This is a stone surviving from a 9 stone megalithic circle on the shore of the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was built around 3200 BC.

The granite stone is 7 feet tall and 18 feet wide weighing 10 tons (10,000 kg).  It has been identified as, possibly, the place called ‘Locus Maponi’ on the 7th Century  Ravenna Cosmography.  In historic times it was a meeting point for armies, for truces and prisoner exchanges.  It was at one time the marker for the Border. 

Maponus appears to have been of special importance in the North West, and it is interesting how the stone retained its importance into the Christian era.

For more on Lochmabon look here

For more on Coligny see my post

First written in August 2025