There has been great progress in ureteral surgery in the last twenty years. The predominant indication is still calculous obstruction but reparative and plastic surgery of the ureter for congenital and acquired lesions are among the most interesting advances in modern urology. The essential goal of this surgery is to ensure free flow of the urine from the kidney to the bladder and so to preserve or improve kidney function which is always affected or threatened by any defect in the excretory pathway. The ideal is to re-establish a closed circuit flow from kidney to bladder by repair or...

At the end of the eighth century the first Viking raiders appeared in Irish waters. These raiders came exclusively from Norway. The first recorded raid was in 795 on Rathlin Island off the coast of Antrim where the church was burned. On the west coast the monasteries on Inismurray and Inisbofin were plundered possibly by the same raiders. The Scottish island of Iona was also attacked in the same year. For the first four decades, 795-c.836, the raids followed a clear pattern of hit-and -run affairs by small, probably independent, free-booters. Attacks were usually on coastal targets no Viking...