Girl I courted, originally in Italian city (8)
I believe the answer is:
veronica
'girl' is the definition.
'i courted originally in italian city' is the wordplay.
'originally' indicates taking the first letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'italian city' becomes 'verona' (Verona is a city in Italy).
The initial letter of 'courted' is 'c'.
'i'+'c'='ic'
'ic' going into 'verona' is 'VERONICA'.
(Other definitions for veronica that I've seen before include "Girl" , "Blue-flowered plant in a cover, oddly" , "Woman" , "Girl's name; herbaceous plant" , "Saint who wiped Christ's face on the Via Dolorosa" .)