Leave animal’s coat on Irish lake (8)
I believe the answer is:
furlough
'leave' is the definition.
(I know that furlough is a type of leave)
'animal's coat on irish lake' is the wordplay.
'animal's coat' becomes 'fur' (I've seen this before).
'on' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'irish lake' becomes 'lough' (Irish term for 'lake').
'fur'+'lough'='FURLOUGH'
(Other definitions for furlough that I've seen before include "Very unattractive" , "Temporary leave of absence from military duty" , "Leave of absence from military duties" .)