Ran away from Ireland or Cork over sweetheart (4)
I believe the answer is:
lied
'ran away from ireland' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'cork over sweetheart' is the wordplay.
'cork' becomes 'lid' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'over' indicates putting letters inside.
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the heart/centre of 'sweet').
'lid' placed around 'e' is 'LIED'.
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lied that I've seen before include "German Romantic song" , "Song in Berlin" , "Did not speak the truth" , "Told fibs - German song" , "gave a false impression" .)