Aims:This study sought to investigate the relationship between school variables, background variables, sense of belonging and absenteeism in Traveller students in Irish secondary education aged 12 to 15 years.Method:The study employed a wait list control design, recruiting 37 Traveller students and 41 non-Traveller students from three secondary schools in the west of Ireland. All participating pupils completed questionnaires designed to sample their emotional engagement with school such as the Belonging Scale, the School Connectedness Scale and the Sense of School Community Scale. Teachers who worked directly with the participating Traveller students completed the Affective Engagement Perspective Scale. School attendance records from each school were accessed to collect data about the absenteeism rates.Findings:Differences between Traveller and non-Traveller participants were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests. In line with previous research, Traveller students had higher absenteeism compared to their non-Traveller peers. Overall non-Travellers had a greater sense of school community and connectedness. Multiple regression analysis examined the relationship between school, home and sense of school belonging variables on absenteeism. Results showed absenteeism was predicted by individual’s sense of school community, mother’s educational level and whether the individual was a Traveller or not.Conclusions:Results are discussed in relation to educational practice, in particular the need for secondary schools to develop organisational structures and systems to target the promotion of sense of belonging in schools and to engage Traveller families. Implications for future research are examined.