For the tourists and trekkers on a sun-drenched section of the Burren Way in Co Clare last weekend, there were postcard-perfect views of rolling hills, cute cottages, a mirror-still Atlantic - and another, less tranquil, scene.

But if the death-chases framed against stunning views near the Cliffs of Moher during the country's first hare-coursing event of the season were surprising for some visitors, they were puzzling in another way, too, for it was dogs instead of hares that ended up dead.

Four young greyhounds were put down after breaking their legs at the Liscannor Coursing Club's 71st annual meeting. None of the 89 hares was killed, said the club's president, Morgan O'Loughlin, who doubled as the vet on the scene.

The start of the coursing season attracted a couple of hundred dog-owners and punters on Saturday and considerably fewer on Sunday. It took place in a sloping field made desultorily festive by a chip van, a roulette stand and toy stands selling mainly shiny jewellery for girls and plastic guns for boys.

At warm-up time at the bottom of the slope, handlers had squeezed about 50 hares into a jerry-built shelter made of concrete blocks and covered with tarpaulin and gaily coloured fish netting.

A bookie called out: "Long odds lads, come on now - punts, sterling or creamery cheques!" as punters surveyed the field, stunningly framed against a still ocean and the cliffs beyond Lahinch, and checked their official cards.

There was plenty to scan: the dogs, the rules, the prize-money ranging from £700 to £2,000, and the names of almost 50 sponsors, including local hostelries like the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon and the Claremont in Lahinch.

A whistle blew, a moving hare was silhouetted against a white tarpaulin run at the bottom of the field; talk stopped. As the hare streaked up the hill, the two muzzled dogs in the first heat, Big Edge and Glenwood General, yelped and strained to be let off the leash. Their quarry easily got away under the straw fence at the end of the course. "That was a grand hare," said a punter.

The third hare wasn't so hot. "Uh-oh, a slow one," a man remarked as the hare slowed half way up the hill, dogs gaining fast on its pert white bobtail. "Go wan, yrrrrrr, yrrrrrr, yaaaa!" the punters shouted encouragingly. When the dogs reached the bobtail, the hare turned, and the crowd laughed.

"They're only pups, they've no experience at this time of year," a commentator adjudged after two dogs opted to snap at each other along the course instead of at the hare. A black greyhound was an even greater disgrace. "You'd need a gun to shoot a fellow like that," one man said of the pup that was clearly confused about who was supposed to be chasing whom. For 10 minutes after he'd raced, the dog declined to be caught, holding up proceedings while he led handlers on a merry dance around the field.

Perhaps he'd had an inkling of something, for within minutes one of his successors, a handsome brown and white greyhound on a straight run, suddenly collapsed on the grass, screaming.

"Jays, that's a leg broken, and it a favourite, too. That's bad," a man commented as the stricken dog was slung over someone's shoulders and carted off, to be killed, as it later emerged.

Moments later the next thrill was up, this time provided by a hare that stopped halfway up the hill to sit in front of the crowd. People egged on the rigid, apparently suicidal animal with a chorus of "Ya, hup, grrrr, go-on-ye!" and it fled, managing to avoid the fate of the hare that came soon after, which was briefly punched to the ground by dogs.

At the start box, men and boys were constantly busy, arranging the hares into tunnels inside a long wooden box, roofed with slatted planks. They shifted the hares around by prodding them with sticks, and by spitting and blowing on their heads through the slats. Every so often, a quivering ear, or a round brown eye, rose briefly through the gaps. A little boy tried to impress his father by aiming the barrel of his plastic gun at the animals.

Following Irish Coursing Club rules, the 89 hares were released on Monday, said Mr O'Loughlin. "We pursue responsible policies in relation to hares. We're very particular about protecting hares all year," he said. "Others who are shooting hares are doing far more damage as far as hares are concerned," he said. Hare numbers are declining, mainly due to loss of habitat.

Philip Samways, chairman of the Irish Council Against Bloodsports, denounced coursing. "There is no place for cruelty like this in a modern European country," he said.

More than 40 coursing events are scheduled for October and November around the country.