Cork's Greatest Records: John Spillane's Irish Songs We Learned at School

B-Side The Leeside: The singer-songwriter had huge success with the album of Irish classics he released in 2008

John Spillane's  Irish Songs We Learned at School sold more than 45,000 copies. 

There’s a certain irony in the fact that one of Cork singer-songwriter John Spillane’s best-known songs is 'Johnny Don’t Go To Ballincollig', his 1997 kick against Cork’s small-town provinciality, which has been covered by Christy Moore on two albums.

Because ten years later, when he was recording his fourth album in a five-album deal with now-defunct label EMI Ireland, Ballincollig was precisely where he went.