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This figure was found in 1961 near the monastic site of Tomregan (Tuaim Drecin) a few kilometres south of Ballyconnell. This is the site of the ancient University where St Bricin was professor circa 630 AD.

The history of St. Bricin centres around the ancient university of Tomregan in Breffni which flourished in the seventh century. Tomregan got its name in-pre-Christian times from the burial mound of Dreacon, a pagan chieftain ruling the district around the Woodford river. The ancient Gaelic name was Tuaim Dreacuin from which Tomregan is derived. In Christian times, the site became the centre of the ancient university- among the oldest in Ireland. Investigations by the Breffni Antiquarian and Historical Society have shown that the present townland of Mullynagoleman, about two miles south-east of Ballyconnell town in the neighbourhood of Kildallan, corresponds to the original site place-name which since then has fallen into disuse. All traces of the building have disappeared, as have any remnants of the mound of Dreacon.

In the early years of the seventh century, Bricin was attached to this scholarly establishment, distinguishing himself as a scholar and surgeon. His most distinguished surgical achievement relates to his care of a serious skull wound on an Ulster chieftain of royal blood named Cennfaelad. Following a bloody battle fought near Uloira, Co. Down in 634 AD, the wounded chieftain was rushed to Bricin of Tomregan for treatment. After surgery Cennfaelad remained at the academy for a period of convalescence under Bricin's care. As a result, he developed an almost perfect memory and a keen interest in study at the three colleges of the university-going on to become its most distinguished scholar and poet. The university had three colleges, Brehon Law, History and Poetry, and Classical Learning. Following his studies Cennfaelad produced three famous works, on law, Irish grammar and contemporary history. The history includes references to exploits of the Red Branch Knights and death of Cuchullain, the great Ulster champion.

Regarding St Bricin's later years the great Breffni surgeon would seem to have left Ireland for missionary work abroad according to the writings of Feilire of Aengus. Bricin, like St. Patrick, seems to have become a saint by popular canonisation. Feilire records his feast day on September fifth. Bricin's name survives in local place-names like Slievebriken, a hill west of Mullynagoleman. This indicates that in earlier times, his name and fame was well remembered in the district-truly a distinguished scholar of the academy of Tomregan in Breffni.

NOTE-The ancient Irish historian Eugene O Curry, Professor of History and Archaeology at the University of Ireland (1855-89) pointed out that Bricin is pronounced with a hard C as in the Gaelic (as if Brikin). , .

He fought at the crucial battle of Maigh Rath (Moira, County Down) in 636. During the battle he received a life-threatening head wound, and was afterwards carried to the abbey of Toomregan to be healed in the house of its abbot, Briccine. This house was situated "where the three streets meet between the houses of the three professors. And there were three schools in the place; a school of Latin learning, a school of Irish law and a school of Irish poetry. And everything that he would hear of the recitations of the three schools every day he would have by heart every night."

Tradition states that as a result of head wound, Cenn Faelad's "brain of forgetting was knocked out of him." The effect of this trauma led him to create "a pattern of poetry to these matters and he wrote them on slates and tablets and set them in a vellum book."

Some authorities believe that the operation that Bricin performed was in fact Trephination which was quite common in ancient times. This process is similar to to the use of Burr Holes in modern medicine to relieve pressure on the brain caused by certain head injuries.

Our thanks to Dr Vaughan Bell, BSc (Hons), MSc, Cert HE, PhD, Kings College London, for his kind permission to reproduce this extract:

Trepanation, or trephination (both derived from the Greek word trypanon, meaning "to bore") is perhaps the oldest form of neurosurgery. The procedure, which is called a craniotomy in medical terminology, involves the removal of a piece of bone from the skull. It has been performed since prehistoric times: the oldest trepanned skull, found at a neolithic burial site of Ensisheim in France, is more than 7,000 years old, and trepanation was practised by the Ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Romans, Greeks and the early Mesoamerican civilizations. Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.E.) describes the types of injuries for which trepanning was used.

Dr Bell's article "Like a Hole in the Head" suggests that this may be the process that Bricin preformed on Cennfaelad.

We note that Cennfaelad spent some years with Bricin at the University after the operation. The SMALLER SOCIAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT IRELAND (chapter xiv) tells us "a person wounded another or injured him bodily in any way, without justification, he was obliged by the Brehon Law to pay for "Sick maintenance," i.e. the cost of maintaining the wounded man in a hospital, either wholly or partly, according to the circumstances of the case, till recovery or death; http://www.libraryireland.com/SocialHistoryAncientIreland/II-XIV-4.php

Further references to Bricin can be found in "Corpus Of Electronic Texts" at University College Cork http://www.ucc.ie/celt/

* Note the Irish Fada is missing from some characters as the 'a' in Cenn Faelad due to the fact that it will not reproduce in many browsers.