Exhibit 23.a

            Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm


The Board of Directors
First Bancorp

We consent to the  incorporation by reference to the  Registration  Statement of
First  Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to the First  Bancorp 2004 Stock Option Plan
(File no. 333-118570), Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-8
relating to the First  Bancorp 1994 Stock Option Plan (File no.  033-82542)  and
the  Registration  Statement of First  Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to the First
Bancorp 1994 Stock Option Plan (File no. 333-58668),  the Registration Statement
on Form S-3D  relating to the First  Bancorp  Dividend  Reinvestment  and Common
Stock Purchase Plan (File no. 333-117575),  the Registration  Statement of First
Bancorp on Form S-8 relating to three First Savings  Bancorp,  Inc. stock option
plans (File no. 333-51798),  the Registration Statement of First Bancorp on Form
S-8 relating to the Century Bancorp stock option plan (File no. 333-65296),  and
the  Registration on Form S-8 relating to the Amended and Restated First Bancorp
CCB  Non-Qualified  Stock Option Plan (File no.  333-103741) of our report dated
March 7, 2006, relating to the consolidated  balance sheets of First Bancorp and
subsidiaries as of December 31, 2005, and the related consolidated statements of
income,  comprehensive income,  shareholders' equity and cash flows for the year
then ended,  which report appears in the December 31, 2005 Annual Report on Form
10-K of First Bancorp.



/s/ Elliott Davis, PLLC

Greenville, South Carolina
March 7, 2006