The Lough is a suburb of Cork city, the electoral division in which it lies, the body of water that gives the area its name and a Roman Catholic parish of the same name.^[1] It lies on the south side of the city. The Lough is part of the Cork South-Central Dáil constituency.

The Lough is a shallow spring-fed freshwater lake with an average depth of one metre and a total area of 4 hectares.^[2] It is a wildfowl preserve, particularly for swans, and has been a protected area since 1881. The Lough is also used for coarse angling (on a 'strictly catch and release basis')^[3] and is home to fish species such as carp, eel, tench, rudd and perch.^[2]

The outer border of the body of water at the Lough is approximately 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi).^[4]

The Lough district is close to the main University College Cork campus, and has a high density of student accommodation.^{[citation needed]}