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                                                                    Exhibit 23.1

PricewaterhouseCoopers [Logo]



                    Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.P.


         We consent to incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement
(Form S-8), of our report dated March 11, 1999, relating to the supplemental
consolidated balance sheets of FirstMerit Corporation and subsidiaries as of
December 31, 1998 and 1997, and the related supplemental consolidated statements
of income, shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the
three year period ended December 31, 1998, which report appears in Exhibit 99 to
the 1998 Annual Report on Form 10-K of FirstMerit Corporation.

                                    /s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

April 21, 1999



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