Residents of Inniskeen in Co Monaghan - birthplace of poet Patrick Kavanagh - have criticised plans for two housing developments, which will see the village almost double in size.

The heritage village of Inniskeen has around 1,000 inhabitants and just over 120 dwellings, according to the most recent local area plan. Two schemes proposed will see an additional 106 houses built in the village.

Developers PJ and EJ Doherty want to build 58 houses at the former GAA football pitch, known locally as Grattan's field. The pitch would have been the venue for many of the local derbys between Inniskeen and neighbouring parish Donaghmoyne celebrated in Kavanagh's Tarry Flynn.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland-based Geda Construction is looking to build 48 houses on a site close to the Patrick Kavanagh Centre, which is in a former church dating from the early 19th century. This application is being considered by Monaghan County Council.

Permission has already been granted by Monaghan County Council for the Grattan's Field site. The Inniskeen Action Committee has appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála.

The group has urged the planning board to reduce the density of the development to reflect "the wishes of the vast majority of the residents of Inniskeen parish".

Mary Deery, spokesperson for the group, says the group is not anti-development but has huge concerns about the density of both proposals. She says that the application, which represents a density of 11 houses per acre, was given approval by the council the day before the local development plan came into force. The development plan sets a density of six houses per acre for the village, she said.

The group argues that low density housing is the only acceptable form of development to ensure a sustainable quality of life for both new and existing residents and the protection of the heritage, culture and tradition of the village, and the Patrick Kavanagh tourism product offered by the village.