ABSTRACT
Making use of new evidence, this article re-examines the extent to which corrupt means were employed to secure the Irish union in 1800. It is divided into three sections. The first analyses the failure of the first attempt at union in 1799; the second reveals the details of serious financial irregularities which accompanied the passage of union the following year, and traces the elaborate cover-up of illegal use of British secret service money in Ireland; the third places this evidence in context by identifying the purposes to which this money was applied. It is not the intention to argue that corruption was the decisive factor, nor that venal motives alone inspired unionists, but rather to redress the historiographical imbalance caused by underestimating the fears, and the resourcefulness, of the Irish ministry. The dread of a second failure caused ministers to circumvent the legal restrictions on the use of secret service money in order to guarantee success.
