It's not Nationalist revisionism, what we would today call bribery was not illegal and was used fairly often in this time period. In relation to the 1800 Act of Union which made Ireland part of the United Kingdom a vote was held in 1799 to maintain the independence of the Irish Parliament. After this narrowly passed Lord Cornwallis, the recently appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, set about offering pensions, jobs, promotions and titles to buy votes. A total of over £1,250,000 was spent in doing so, a massive sum of money at the time. For example, originally against the Union, the Marquis of Downshire was given £57,000 to vote with his 7 seats in favor of it.

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Resources on the 1800 Act of Union

http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm

https://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/an-act-of-power-corruption/

The Green Flag - Robert Key